Sonic and Lilac: Tides of Chaos
by SonicChaosEmerald
Summary: With Eggman running low on resources of energy, he turns his attention to another source on a different planet. But when the planet is inhabited, the blue blur and the draconian girl meet for the first time. With the energy of the Kingdom Stone and the Chaos Emeralds at risk, can the two pull it together before both worlds go under?
1. Prologue: A New Energy

_Sonic and all Sonic the Hedgehog™ characters are copyright to SEGA and Sonic Team_

 _All characters of Freedom Planet™ are copyright to GalaxyTrails_

 _Sash Lilac, Carol Tea, and Milla Basset are originally copyright to ZiyoLing of DeviantArt_

 _I own none of these properties or am making money off this story_

 _Please support the official releases._

* * *

 ** _Author's Note: This story is NOT canonically related to any of my other works involving Sonic on my profile. It is only relating to the officially canon games of Sonic the Hedgehog™ and Freedom Planet™. Sonic's takes place nearly two weeks after the events of Lost World, and Lilac's takes place nearly an entire year after Brevon's defeat on Avalice._**

 ** _Sonic and Lilac: Tides of Chaos  
Act 1_**

 _Prologue_ _: A New Energy_

 _Planet Mobius, sunset hours..._

Sunset cast over Mobius once again as the night sky slowly crept up into view. The planet was ready to settle down for another evening of rest, knowing well that their heroes would do well to stop the menaces that plagued the beautiful world. Mobius was a mysterious and beautiful world, teeming with life and coexisting with humans and a race of humanoid animals known as Mobians, and the beauty stretched across the entire land, showing in the futuristic cities and lush beaches and jungles, to some of the odder showings such as giant castles and pinball casinos. With all of that, it was a little slice of heaven for everyone to enjoy. Of course, for one Mobian, he had his own way of enjoying paradise...

The sun was just setting behind the rocky mountains of the bowl-shaped canyon, leaving an orange tint to all of the waterfalls and fresh water collected within the canyon. Dotted across the entire lake within the canyon were orange-and-brown checkerboard rock cliffs with green grass, formed into natural slopes and loops across the terrain. Various palm trees dotted the cliffs, along with various flowers of different species. Several structures of bridges, ancient wooden scaffolding, wooden chain swings, wooden rails and small wooden totem poles, as well as the larger stone totems dotted across the canyon as well, reminiscing of the possible inhabitants of the canyon from long ago. Of course, that civilization was long since gone, now the canyon being the residence of a single Mobian hedgehog, running through the zone, known as Green Hill, at a breakneck speed. Aged sixteen, the Mobian hedgehog was blue, the six spines on his head drooping back behind him whenever he stood still, accented by his tan muzzle, stomach and arms, and his emerald-jade green eyes. His apparel consisted of white gloves with yellow rings around the wrists with red wrist guards, a red short-sleeve jacket, and red shoes with a white band and gold buckles, with a golden ring around the socks. This was Sonic the Hedgehog, the hero and defender of Mobius, and a celebrity in some circles. The blue hedgehog had just finished up his run through the zone before skidding to a stop, pulling a stopwatch out of his jacket and clicking the stop button.

"Just under thirty seconds.." He said to himself, smirking. "Heh, I'm getting better than I thought. Normally it took me nearly a minute to get through the entire place." He walked along the cliff, looking out into the sunset. "Seems like ol' Egghead's always trying to attack our world at every turn. Never gives up, does he? Yet despite his constant onslaughts, he still hasn't tried to attack the same place twice. Guess his failures constitutes him to attack somewhere else." He continued walking, passing a destroyed animal capsule, now having vegetation growing over it. It had been nearly a couple years since Sonic first saved Mobius from the threat of being ruled by a madman, and since then he's nearly stopped every one of his enemy's schemes.

"And he still can't beat me, no matter his attempts." The hedgehog said to himself. "I guess he's just too stubborn to realize he can't win. Maybe he needs to find a new hobby..." Just then his watch started vibrating, Sonic clicked a button on the side to bring up the audio feed with a message.

"Hello? Hey Sonic? You there?" A young voice said, on the other side of the transmitter.

"Going good little buddy. What's up?" Sonic said through the transmitter. "Do we got a certain giant talking egg on the move again?"

"Not exactly," The voice on the other side of the transmitter said. "But I did manage to find something rather interesting. Could you stop by my workshop as soon as you possibly can?"

The hedgehog smirked. Finally some action after so long! "No problem, little buddy! I'll be there before you can blink!" He said, clicking the button on his wristwatch, ending the transmission. The hedgehog then dashed off, entering into a tunnel in the side of the canyon to leave Green Hill Zone...

* * *

The calm wind blew across the valleys of the Zone known as the Mystic Ruins, and for a young Mobian kitsune, it was just another day working with tinkering his inventions. Aged 11, the kitsune's fur was a vivid orange, complementing his aquamarine eyes. He had three bangs in front of his head, white furry muzzle and chest, and two tails with white fur at the ends. He wore white gloves with black bands and red shoes that were white at the front, and pilot's goggles on top of his head. This was Miles Prower, commonly known by his nickname of 'Tails', friend of Sonic the Hedgehog and mechanic and engineering extrordinare. He was currently working on the red biplane in the hangar of his workshop since his and Sonic's last adventure to the world of the Lost Hex, an unusual world home to the species known as the Zeti. Since then the plane had been damaged a bit from the adventure, and Tails had taken time to fix his friend's plane. He was just fixing up the main rocket booster when he was reminded of the first time the two met. A small smile came to his face as he remembered his first adventure with Sonic, remembering all the zones they went through and how many times they whooped the mad doc, it was a nostalgia rush for him and he liked that, spending time with his brother-figure. His thoughts were interrupted as a knock on the workshop door rung. Tails got out from under the plane and went to the door, opening it and none other than Sonic walked in.

"Ah, there you are." The kitsune said. "I was wondering when you'd arrive. Everything going well for you Sonic?"

"Heh, you know me!" The hedgehog said, sitting down on one of the barrels in the workshop. "Never a dull moment! So, what exactly did you call me for? Ol' Egghead up to something now?"

"Not exactly," Tails said, walking over to his entire computer setup, typing something into the keyboard. "But it did manage to come across a bit of an oddity during scanning the Chaos Emerald we used back on the Lost Hex." Tails said, typing onto the keyboard, causing a small hatch on the ceiling to open with a small canister filled with a liquid and a green diamond inside the casing. "Back there when you were using it to fight against Zavok and his chronies, the energy emitted from the Emerald seemed to... warp a bit. I'm lucky I was able to record the data or otherwise we'd have to go all the way back to the Lost Hex in order to try and replicate it!"

"How so?" Sonic asked. "Something happen to the Emerald while we were there?"

"Not like that. Look at this." Tails said, indicating two separate wave length graphs on the screen. "These graphs show the amount of Chaos Energy within the emeralds. Now, this top one is the emeralds normally." He said. "But back when you were using the emerald on the Lost Hex, the Chaos Energy seemed to convert into some other type of energy, something I haven't seen before." Tails said, enlarging the other wave length graph. "This seems to have altered energy wavelengths compared to Chaos Energy, not anything we've seen anywhere on Mobius before. And you know what the big thing is?"

"What?" Sonic asked. "Normally this techno babble ain't my thing, but if this is something involving the Chaos Emeralds, you got my attention."

"This isn't the only version of these energy waves I've found." Tails said. "I've managed to do a cross scan for this specific energy signal, and I found a MASSIVE signal coming from another planet!" Tails said, typing away and zooming into a space map of the galaxy Mobius was in. "By tracing this energy wave to other energy waves like this, I've managed to locate it to this planet here!" He said, having the map zoom in on a planet in a nearby solar system. "I'm not sure if there's any life on this planet, but chances are we're gonna have trouble if Eggman finds out about this energy signal."

"You're tellin' me." Sonic said, getting up from his seat. "A power source that's larger than the Chaos Energy within the emeralds? Sounds like a Christmas morning for Eggman! If I were him, I'd try to get my hands on that power source as soon as I could!"

"Yeah, and that's what concerns me." Tails said, closing out the open windows on his computer. "If Eggman gets even a whiff of this data, it could spell disaster for all of us, even if that other planet is uninhabited."

"Yeah, you got a point there." Sonic said. "So, what do we do? Take Eggman down now?"

"He hasn't even done anything yet Sonic," Tails retorted. "Attacking him now would feel like beating a dead horse, it's unnecessary."

"Since when did you become philosophical?" Sonic asked, getting up from his seat.

"I'm just trying to make a point Sonic." Tails retorted. "We can't go after Eggman without knowing he's done something."

"Eh, whatever." Sonic said, shrugging. "Anyways, I'm heading over to Station Square. You wanna come along?"

"Maybe later," Tails said, turning back to the computer console. "I'm gonna run a couple more tests on the emerald to see if I can figure out these odd energy readings."

"Okay then," Sonic shrugged. "You sure you don't want me to get you anything?"

"Nah, I'll be fine." Tails said. "You go on ahead, I might be coming later."

"Kay then, see ya later!" Sonic said, before zooming out of the workshop. Tails turned his attention back to the large computer with all the data readings.

"It doesn't make any sense..." Tails muttered to himself, typing away at the keys on the keyboard, the data on the screen constantly shifting around. "What could be giving off that much raw energy? It can't be more Chaos Emeralds..."

* * *

 _Space, several miles above Mobian atmosphere..._

The young kitsune wasn't the only one flustered by the lack of progress on his work. High above the skies of Mobius, a large spherical space station was currently being built, but progress was currently being slowed down as the station neared being halfway completed. And the sole person leading the project was none too happy about the slowing of the project. Aged nearly fifty, he was a grotesquely obese man with surprisingly slender arms and legs, bald head and rather impressive moustache, wearing a red military jacket with black slacks. This was Dr. Ivo Jullian Robotnik, or 'Eggman' as he was known by the Mobian populace, a scientific mastermind with an IQ of over 300, known more for his schemes for world domination and wanting to rule over the entirety of Mobius. However, every time he tried for world domination, every single one of his schemes were foiled by none other than Sonic the Hedgehog, and needless to say, his nerves were getting fried from his constant defeats. He was gritting his teeth anger at the slowing construction, knowing full well that the hedgehog and his friends would be on their way to stop him now.

"At this rate, that blasted hedgehog would have caught wind of what's going on and be on his way!" He said, pacing back and forth across the control room floor. "Then all this work in secrecy will be put for naught, and I'll be back to square one again!" He angrily growled, walking to the back of the room to the power container housing a red diamond. "And the Chaos Emerald hasn't been able to supply much more energy to fuel the construction either. We'll slow to a halt before we can get another! How are we going to do this..."

"Doctor, might I suggest looking for an alternate power source?" An upper-class English voice spoke as a red orb rolled into the room, before unfolding into a small robot. This was Orbot, one of Eggman's two right hand robot lackeys that assisted the mad doc with his schemes. "There might be a solution to the current problem at hand."

"And what exactly would that be?" Eggman muttered. "Bear in mind that we have no time to waste, lest we'll have a hedgehog down our throats soon!"

"Well, I've been checking the energy scanners, and we've come across... an anomaly, you could say." Orbot said, pulling up a digital graph of the energy readings. "It seems we're picking up a much bigger energy reading from a nearby solar system, nearly as powerful as the Master Emerald itself!" He said, zooming into the planet in question. "As of now, we do not know if this planet has any life on it, but the energy readings have been off the charts. It would be perfect for fueling the construction and speed it up tenfold!"

"Interesting..." Eggman said to himself, rubbing his chin in deep thought. "Now then, how should we go about this..."

"Moving the station is a highly improbable cause doctor." Orbot said, bringing up the schematics for the new station, 'Death Egg Mk. III'. "Construction is stalling at a measly forty-two percent. Until at least seventy percent is reached, the station would be ripped apart if we tried to move it now!"

"Well let's see..." The doctor mused. "Ah, to hell with it. If it worked on Little Planet and the Wisp Worlds, then it'll work here." Eggman said, before turning back to Orbot. "Get the planetary grappler ready and open a wormhole to the planet. We'll have that energy soon enough..."

"My good doctor, what is it you exactly have planning?" Orbot asked, a look of confusion on his face.

"If we can't go to the energy," Eggman said. "Why not bring it directly to us?"

"...I understand doctor." Orbot said. "Preparations will be made for your planet fishing trip. I will be off no-"

"What in the..." Eggman muttered as three streaks of light, one lavender, one cyan, and one silver, streak off of Mobius and into the same direction into outer space. "Orbot, what the hell was that? Were those three of the Chaos Emeralds right now?"

"I believe they were doctor." Orbot said. "No matter, they appear to be heading to the planet we were going to reel in anyways."

"Then get moving on it!" Eggman growled, causing Orbot to scurry away. Eggman then turned and paced to the observation window, overlooking the surface of Mobius. "Hopefully this new energy will be powerful enough..."

* * *

 _Planet Avalice, evening hours..._

A cold wind blew over Avalice as the planet was starting to set into the winter months of it's year cycle. Soon some people would settle to rest, while others went out in the cold afterhours of night. Avalice was a world not unlike Mobius, however, no humans existed on Avalice, and the main race, Avalicians, came in a more exotic variety that that of Mobius. Avalice had three kingdoms, all having an appearance of a Japanese/Chinese styled ancient city; Shang Mu, the crimson red kingdom, more advanced and populated than the other two, known for it's great deal of shopping malls and other attractions, led by the narcissistic, short-statured and even shorter-tempered red panda Mayor Zao; Shang Tu, the sapphire blue kingdom, known for peace and wisdom, led by the mysterious Royal Magister, who's true face had never been seen in public; and Shuigang, the jade green kingdom, the most neutral of the three, led by the the former king's son, Prince Dail, now having to take the reins after his father's murder at the hands of an intergalactic war tyrant known as Lord Arktivus Brevon. He had thankfully been stopped and now the world had been safe, but damages had been done. But now the world could rest knowing the threat was dead and that peace was prevailing once more...

A light snow was falling over the locale known as Dragon Valley, a large vast valley with various winding roads and various plant life sprung up, though as of now it was under a foot or two of snow at this point. Underneath a giant tree holding a large treehouse, a young dog Avalician was busy building a snowman under the tree. Aged 11, she had white fur with messy orange hair with two green crystalline bands on both of her ears. She wore a black wool sweater with a orange crystal bracelet on her left wrist over her sweater and a green crystalline bracelet on her right wrist. Over her sweater she wore a sleeveless greyish-beige winter skirt with four knot ties on the front, and a long green wither scarf covering the lower part of her face. She was barefoot, only having an orange crystalline bracelet around her right ankle and a green crystalline bracelet around her left ankle, and wore black snowpants. This was Milla Basset, the youngest of a trio of Avalician heroes that had stopped Brevon from nearly killing off the entire planet, her specialty are her psychic energy shield powers, some forms of them people have appropriately named 'murder cubes', and her keen sense of smell and sense. The young hound kept working on her snowman, humming to herself as she rolled up more snow, before the streaks of light flew above her. She stopped her work and looked up at the streaks of light.

"Falling stars?" The hound muttered to herself. "They only recently fell about a week ago... why are more falling stars happening now?" The poor hound never got to answer her question as one streak seemed to fly straight at her! Panicking, she shrieked and dodged out of the way, the object crashing down into the ground in front of the treehouse. Milla cowered on the ground, her fluffy white tail pointed straight up, having it's hair standing on end as she shuddered. When the event passed, Milla reluctantly got up and looked at the crater in front of the tree house. The ground was heaved up and a thin trail of smoke was rising from the crater. Curiosity getting the better of her, she romped up to the edge of the crater, her tail whipping back and forth in excitement as she peered into the crater. Sitting in the center of the crater was a lavender colored diamond. Milla slid down the side of the crater and rushed up to the diamond, cautiously approaching the diamond before she slowly reached her hand out and grabbed it, pulling it away from the center of the crater out of fear. When nothing happened, she breathed a sigh of relief and got out of the crater, holding the gem close to her and examining it as soon as she got out of the crater.

"Is this... an amethyst?" Milla muttered to herself as she looked over the gem. "Maybe Lilac or Carol would know about this..."

* * *

Meanwhile, in another section of Dragon Valley, two friends were having the time of their lives as they raced across the snowy terrain. The one was a wildcat, aged 13, with lime-green fur and darker green accents, wearing a red hooded jacket with a black pattern on the back, two pockets on the backside of the jacket near the waistline, a white flower band on each sleeve and two golden strings tied off into a four-petal flower knot at the front of the jacket. Along with that, she wore baggy green snowpants with a red pattern and black and green snowboots. Her black-tipped tail whipped in the wind as she rode her red motorcycle, outfitted with ice and snow tires, across the snow-covered terrain of Dragon Valley. This was Carol Tea, another of the three Avalicians that had stopped Brevon's plans, a natural tinkerer with mechanics and a fierce martial artist. Currently she was feeling smug about herself since she was beating her friend in a race back to their treehouse.

"Aw, c'mon now!" Carol yelled back, a smug look on her face. "What's the matter? Year off loosen ya up a bit?"

Her answer came soon as another Avalician soon boosted up next to her. This Avalician was a species that was rare among the populace: a water dragon. Aged 16, she wore a white top black bottom leotard that was covered by a sleeveless blue outfit with a white 'Freedom' wing symbol on the back, the two strings of it tied off into a five-petal flower knot, with the remainder of the string wrapped around her waist belt with two pockets on the back. Her blue boots that were the same color as the outfit had shoelaces that tied off at the back of the boot, the ivy gecko spell imprinted onto the golden underside of the boots, a wing and lightning extra added onto the sides of the boots. Her lavender horns swept back , complementing the titanium 'cyclone' frame of her headgear, complete with two waterdrop gemstones, one in each side of the headgear. Her two dragon tendrils on the back of her head were tied off near the base with a black cloth ring, held in place by a blue metal ring. On top of that, the lavender dragon was wearing a cloak, complete with a 'flowering cloud' shoulder cape, an 'ocean wave' low border, her family sign on the cloak itself, and a complicated red knot in front. This was Sash Lilac, the oldest of the three and the main reason for Avalice's peace since Brevon's defeat, her abilities and speed as a dragon were unmatched by anyone else on Avalice. She smirked as she looked over at Carol, who now was wearing an exasperated look on her face.

"I'm sorry, what now?" Lilac remarked, before blasting off ahead. Carol seemed to growl to herself as she kicked her motorcycle into full gear and gave pursuit.

"Oh come ON!" She yelled, her motorcycle catching up to the dragon girl. "I thought we agreed no dragon boosting! You know how cheap that is!"

"C'mon Carol, lighten up a bit!" Lilac said, smiling a bit. "I'm just messing with ya a bit!"

"Pfft, yeah right!" Carol said, before kicking her motorcycle into high gear and stuck her tongue out at Lilac. "I'll see you back at the treehouse!" Carol said before her motorcycle took off ahead. Carol grinned as she imagined the look on Lilac's face when she got got he treehouse before her. Though her thoughts of victory didn't last long as she failed to notice the large pit in front of the treehouse. As a result, the wildcat fell in the hole landing hard on her back while her motorcycle tumbled nearby. She laid there for a second, dazed and confused, before Lilac skidded to a halt near the edge of the crater, a look of concern across her face.

"Carol!" Lilac yelled. "Are you okay?!"

"Owww..." Carol groaned, sitting up. "Yeah, I'm totally looking forward to butt blisters! What the hell is this thing! Did Milla have a digging spree or something?!"

Lilac shook her head. "I don't know. That wouldn't seem like her." She said, sliding down the side of the crater. "Either way, let's get you out of this hole."

Carol nodded, Lilac and her grabbing the bike and hoisting it out of the crater. Once the bike was out of the crater, the two climbed up the ladder into the treehouse. It was two stories with working electricity and more than enough space for the three girls. Milla was currently sitting at the table, out of her winter outfit and dressed in a sleeveless black leotard with a green sweatshirt tied around her waist. She was staring at the gem that had crashed in front of the treehouse and only looked up to see Lilac and Carol coming through the entrance to the treehouse.

"Oh, you two are back!" Milla said, her tail wagging in excitement. "You won't believe what happened while you two were out racing!"

"Does it have anything to do with that giant hole outside the treehouse?" Carol said, taking a seat at the table. "What happened? Did you start digging something up? I thought you were trying to build a snowman when we left."

"Well, I did," Milla started. "But then falling stars started to happen like last week, and one came straight for me! It nearly hit me head-on!"

"A meteor hit here?!" Lilac gasped, as she took off her cloak and hung it up. "You're not hurt, are you?"

Milla shook her head. "No, I ran!" She said. "The star crashed in front of the treehouse and there was this purple amethyst thingie in the hole where the star hit! I thought you'd would know what exactly this is Lilac!"

"Well, let me see it." Lilac said. Milla nodded and politely handed Lilac the gem. "Well, it seems to be undamaged..." She said to herself, looking over the gem. "But this isn't an amethyst. Amethyst is a quartz, this gemstone isn't with the consistency of quartz. This gemstone seems to belong more to the beryl family of gems..." She remained silent as she observed the odd gem a bit longer. "Well," she said, getting up. "It's definitely a beryl of some kind, but I can't tell exactly what it is."

"Well, where are you going?" Carol asked, noticing Lilac was getting her cloak again.

"I'm thinking of taking a visit to the Magister in Shang Tu. If there's anyone that'll know what exactly this is, it'll be him."

"We'll I'm coming too!" Carol said, getting up. "Besides, I could use a bit of a rematch. We can see who gets there first!"

"I wanna come too!" Milla complained. "I found it first!"

"Girls, please, you can come. But Milla, change into something else. You'll freeze outside wearing only that."

"I know, I know!" Milla said, rushing back to her room. Carol just shrugged and headed outside, climbing down the ladder.

"Sometimes I really don't understand that girl..." Carol muttered to herself as Lilac came down the ladder, followed by Milla jumping out of the treehouse, using her ears to slow her fall. Milla climbed onto the back of Carol's bike as Carol revved up the bike itself. Lilac put the gem into her back left pocket on her belt, and soon the trio took off for the kingdom of Shang Tu...

* * *

Within a few minutes, the Avalician trio reached the outer wall of the sapphire-colored kingdom, Shang Tu. After some small negotiations with the outer guards, the three were allowed inside the gates of Shang Tu and headed for the Royal Palace. But what they didn't expect to see was the side of the palace in ruins as they entered the kingdom itself.

"Oh my..." Lilac breathed, looking up at the collapsed palace side. Peace had already been fragile between the three kingdoms since the incident with Lord Brevon and the limitless power of the planet, the Kingdom Stone. What could have been set off to cause something like this?

"Looks like the place got hit hard..." Carol breathed. "What hit the place?"

"Not sure, but I'm not just gonna stand around and dawdle on it!" Lilac said, curling up into a ball before Dragon-Boosting ahead toward the palace.

"Lilac! Wait!" Milla cried, taking off after Lilac. "Oh no..."

With quick haste, Lilac reached the large steel doors that entered into the palace, though the royal guards were giving her a hard time as to getting into the palace itself.

"You have to let us in!" Lilac had said to the guards. "We're friends with the Magister! There must be something wrong if the side of the palace is in ruins!"

"Look ma'am," One of the guards, a bear, spoke. "We're on tight security right now because of the whole situation. Sorry but we can't allow anyone in that could potentially compromise the situation."

"Quack" The other guard, a duck, quacked, as if to punctuate the statement.

"Compromise the situation?!" Carol said, having caught up to Lilac and Milla at the doors. "Get real, fazface! We stopped Brevon! How would we be compromising the situation?!"

"I'm sorry, but orders are orders." The one guard said. "Now please, leave. We don't have time for this."

"It's okay Fred, they mean well." A voice had spoken from behind the bear. That voice had come from a large panda bear that had now just come out of the temple. Dressed in golden shogun armor with spiked shoulder pads, he had a short black ponytail and a large bronze-gold shield attached to his back. This was General Gong, one of the Magister's personal royal guards and the highest ranking among them. "The girls here mean no harm. They can come in."

"B-b-but general, th-"

"That's an order Fred," Gong said, crossing his arm. "They are to come in, and that's final."

The guard simply hung his head. "Fine" he said, before stepping aside and allowing the three girls inside, before the gigantic metallic doors closed behind them.

"I apologize on the behalf of the Magister for the guard's rather strict status." Gong said as they headed through the royal palace to the overlooking balcony. "We've kinda had strict security since of that odd meteor crash that happened here a couple minutes ago. Can't let anyone in or out of the palace, though you three are an exception to the rule."

"So, we're different from everyone else." Carol said, crossing her arms as they walked. "Not exactly sure how I feel about that."

"We'll you three did stop an tyrannical alien warlord from destroying our planet, so if that ain't enough, I dunno what is." Gong said. "You three gained a LOT of popularity over the past year from Brevon's death and his warship exploding. A lot of people have been respecting you because of your actions that day."

"So, we became overnight celebrities?" Milla asked, her eyes wide. "Wow, I didn't think that something like that would happen!"

"Milla..." Lilac muttered to herself, before the four went through the doors that entered to the royal balcony. The balcony that would normally be there was now caved in, lots of rubble around the caved-in area. Multiple guards we're on standby in the room, keeping watch over the crater area, some conversing with each other. Near the guards two figures were conversing, one taller than the other. The shorter one, about as tall as Gong and the trio, was a female panda with a shapely figure and shoulder-length black hair, wearing a purple outfit with purple gauntlets and holding a scepter with an ice crystal in the end of it. This was Neera-Li, the royal priestess for Shang Tu and the Magister's other personal royal guard. The other was a tall figure, species unknown, wearing blue robes and a gold piece of hearwear. His face was obscured by shadows aside from is glowing eyes. This was the Magister, the ruler of Shang Tu and the wisest and most knowledgeable in Avalice. He and Neera-Li were busy discussing something when Gong and the trio came up to them. Neera looked over to them and a frustrated look had appeared on her face.

"Gong," Neera said bluntly. "Didn't we specifically say that NO ONE is allowed inside the palace at this time? We do not need some incredulous newscasters coming in at this time and interrupting the research of what this meteorite is!"

"Neera, relax," Gong said. "It's just the girls. They came to show their concern because of the whole incident that's happened."

"Gong, orders are orders!" Neera retorted. "We can't afford to be compromised with what's happened now!"

"Neera, it is wise for you to calm down." The Magister spoke. "The dragon-born and her friends have meant no harm before, they would certainly mean no harm now."

"Royal Magister, this is not a good idea!" Neera spoke. "Even if they did save Avalice, we can't just let them in like they know what they're doing!"

"Actually, we came because we had a similar thing happen near our home." Lilac said. "We thought the Magister might be able to help us with it, so we came. We didn't realize that this event was happening..."

"Something similar happened to you three as well?" The Magister asked, before turning away. "Hmm... this is troubling. This could be the sign of something catastrophic unfolding..."

"C-catastrophic?!" Carol choked on her words. "Y-you mean the world's gonna end?!"

"Carol, I don't think he means something like that." Lilac said. "Milla, why don't you show him the gem you found?"

"Right! The beryl thingie!" Milla said, getting the gem from Lilac and taking it to the Magister, holding it up to him. "Here you go! This is what crashed outside our treehouse!"

"I see..." The Magister remarked, taking the gem from the young hound. "We've found one that has crashed into the side of the palace from this incident. From what we've gathered..." He spoke. "This is a beryl; an emerald to be precise."

"A purple emerald?" Carol asked, a look on her face saying that she was unsure about the entire explanation. "Aren't emeralds normally supposed to be, ya know, green?"

"Common perceptions can be misleading, young Carol." The Magister spoke. "Such as the emerald we found was of a silver color. The most startling evidence we came across, however, is the energy that is stored inside these gemstones."

"These emeralds have power?" Milla asked, an innocent look on her face. "But, I thought these were just pretty gems..."

"Oh, young one, these are more than just 'pretty gems'." The Magister spoke. "We've already examined the emerald we've found that crashed into the palace, and from what we've seen, the energy radiating from these gems are rather similar to the energy of Kingdom Stone."

"Wh-what?!" Lilac gasped. "These gems have the same power as the Kingdom Stone?!" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. These odd gems crash onto Avalice and they already have as much power as the Kingdom Stone?

"Yes, but not as large in quantity as the Stone." The Magister said. "These gems seem to have merely a seventh of the Kingdom Stone's power."

"Only a seventh?" Carol asked. "That doesn't seem like a whole lot of energy."

"Until you take into account that this is the Kingdom Stone we're comparing this to." Neera pointed out. "A gem with at least a seventh of the power of the Kingdom Stone is deadly if put into the wrong hands. Which is why we're vouching to seal these away inside the vault."

"...are they really that dangerous?" Milla asked innocently.

Neera nodded. "Since last year's incident with Brevon, we can't afford to have any more compromises with ANYTHING as powerful as the Kingdom Stone. Sealing it away is our only option at this point."

"As much as hate to admit it, I kinda gotta agree with Neera at this point." Gong spoke. "Especially if Spade and his Red Scarf chronies get their hands on them."

"The scarves would sooner try to make money off those gems than use them to try and destroy everything." Carol remarked. "Spade's the only bright one of the bunch, rest of them couldn't tell an oboe from an elbow."

"Either way, we can't afford it." Neera said, crossing her arms. "These gems are too dangerous to be out in the open."

"But..." Milla started, before everyone turned their attention to her. Milla blushed and spoke quietly. "...I-I saw three falling stars in the sky.."

"Three?" The Magister spoke. "Then that likely means that there is still another emerald out in the open..."

"We can look for it." Lilac said, a small smile appearing on her face. "Carol, Milla and I can cover a lot of ground fast."

"Then Gong and I will assist you as well." Neera said, a small smirk appearing on her face. "The sooner we can find this gem, the safer this world will be. We'll need to get moving befo-" She was cut off as a massive earthquake occured, causing the entire kingdom to shake. Nearly everyone fell over from the unpredicted event, that died down as soon as it started.

"Wh-what was that?!" Carol shrieked. "I thought this place wasn't on a fault line!" At that point another royal guard had rushed into the room.

"Y-your excellency!" He cried. "A gigantic metal claw has attached itself to the planet!"

* * *

"Ohohohoho!" Eggman roared in laughter as the planet had been grappled and was being pulled through the dimensional hole. "Perfect! The planet extraction is a success! Soon I'll be eating that limitless energy out of the palm of my hand!"

"Ehr, boss? I don' think ya c'n eat energy." A texan voice had spoke as a yellow cube floated into the scene before unfolding into a robot. This was Cubot, the dim-witted other of Eggman's two robot lackeys that suffered from a malfunctioning voice chip. "Ya can use it ta fuel the worker bots though! That'll make it usefull!"

"Cubot, I'm pretty sure that's what he meant." Orbot spoke. "He was using an expression to demonstrate as to how easy it was to get the energy from the other planet by dragging it out of it's planetary orbit and into our solar system."

"Yes, thank you, Orbot," Eggman said, annoyed. With that, the other planet had now came through the dimensional hole and was now close to Mobius. "Now, send out the Mallet Titans onto the planet to find those emeralds. Once we find them, we'll extract that energy and then that planet doesn't really matter. Maybe I can use it to expand my empire."

Orbot nodded. "As you wish, doctor."

"And make sure it's the armored variety!" Eggman said. "Just in case this planet has... hostile life."

Orbot nodded again before compacting and rolling off. Eggman turned his attention back to the planet. "Soon Sonic, soon..."


	2. Chapter 1: The Heroes Meet

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'd like to apologize for the overly-complicated descriptions for Lilac, Carol, and Milla. I've been basing their designs in the story off of the official redesigns for the main trio that was made by TysonTan from DeviantArt, as Strife had asked him for official supplementary design for the trio. For those that are confused about that last chapter, I recommend you look him up on DeviantArt for the designs if you're still confused.**

* * *

 _ **Sonic and Lilac: Tides of Chaos  
Act 1**_

 _Chapter 1: The Heroes Meet_

The tremors now had stopped from the planetary shift from being pulled out of orbit. The group staggered to get up off of the palace floor after the entire incident, the young Basset still shuddering in fear.

"Is... is it over?" Milla asked, a hint of fear in her voice. "P-please don't tell us B-Brevon's back to come after us..."

"Milla, it'll be okay," Lilac said, hugging her friend, rubbing her back to calm her down. "Brevon's not back. He'll be long gone now..."

"While we may be unharmed, we don't have time for celebration yet," The Royal Magister said, regaining his posture. "Whatever this instigation against our homeworld may be, we must act swiftly and find that last gem before this instigator."

Lilac nodded. "Magister, you can count on us!" She spoke, bowing. "I promise that on the behalf of Avalice we will get that last emerald!"

"Well, are we still going among our plan of going out to find them?" Gong asked.

"Yes, we'll split up into groups." Lilac said. "Carol, Milla, you two go with General Gong and head for Shang Mu. After Mayor Zao's stunt he pulled last year with trying to steal the Kingdom Stone for his re-election, there's a chance he might have the emerald there." Gong nodded, along with Milla and Carol. "Neera, you come with me to the Relic Maze and help me scope out there. There might be a high chance the emerald might have crashed there if it had energy signals similar to the Kingdom Stone."

Neera nodded. "I look forward to our partnership..." She said, readying her Ice Scepter.

"We've all got our own jobs to do here," Lilac said, clenching one of her fists. "Let's make sure we get that emerald before any real damage is done!"

* * *

The young kitsune was working on the red biplane in the garage when a loud screeching noise had interrupted the peace and quiet of the Mystic Ruins. He covered his ears in pain until the loud screeching stopped, where he got out from under the plane and looked around, trying to figure out what had happened.

"What in the world..." He muttered to himself. "Something happen outside?" He decided to take a quick look outside, only to see a massive planet right next to the planet of Mobius! "That's... that's not supposed to be there!" He panicked, checking the scanners on his computer for energy readings. "Oh, no no no!" He cried. "Eggman's already made his move for that energy! If he gets it... oh no no no! I've gotta alert Sonic!" He said, running for his phone, dialing in Sonic's watch number. "C'mon, c'mon..." He breathed, waiting for the blue hedgehog to respond. Soon a receiver had picked up on the other end.

"Man, two calls in one day? This must be something real big!" Sonic's voice said from the other side, filled with a hint of excitement. "Let me guess, we got an excuse now to go after Egghead now?"

"You bet we do!" Tails said. "The Tornado is almost ready! Get here fast before Eggman's got the potential to really do damage now!"

"Heh, did you forget who I am Tails?" Sonic said. "I'll be over shortly!"

"Okay, I'll meet you here." Tails said, ending the call. He then walked over and grabbed the green Chaos Emerald he had been scanning out of the console. "We're gonna need this..."

* * *

 _Relic Maze..._

Deep within the large snow-covered forest known as the Forest of Shards, a set of stone ruins laid to rest within it, showing craftsmanship of an ancient race from long ago. This was the Relic Maze, the original housing for the Kingdom Stone until the events of last year with Brevon. It wasn't all peaceful, though, as for two females now constantly searching the inner snow-covered sanctum where the Kingdom Stone originally was housed. A certain priestess was starting to get rather annoyed at the lack of finding anything and she soon turned her anger to her draconian partner.

"Lilac, this isn't working!" Neera said, moving aside another patch of snow. "We've been looking for this gem for almost a solid hour now and we haven't found it at all!"

"Well, keep looking." Lilac argued. "We're not leaving until we KNOW it's not here."

"Lilac, I can understand that you're dedicated to this and want to find the gem," Neera sighed. "but with the amount of time we've been spending here could very well mean that it's not here whatsoever."

"We're not leaving, end of story." Lilac retorted. "As that gem is still out in the open, nothing can be left to chance."

"Lilac..." Neera sighed, pinching her forehead.

"Neera, just trust me.." Lilac said, shoving aside some dead vines on the wall. "We need to keep searching around here. Even if it isn't here, we can't afford to leave here until we're certain."

Neera sighed in frustration. "Sometimes you're just as stubborn as you are courageous..." Neera muttered to herself as she blasted another snow pile aside. The two were just about ready to leave when a soft thumping occured.

"Did you feel that?" Lilac asked, looking over to Neera. The priestess panda turned and nodded.

"It appears we're not alone..." Neera muttered, readying her scepter. "Be on your guard..."

Before she could even continue, a large robot had crashed through the ceiling, landing on the ground and delivering a large shockwave, knocking the two girls off their feet and backwards into a snow mound. Lilac poked her head out to see the instigator of the shockwave; a massive robot, nearly as high as a two-story building, covered in a chromium steel armor, with a small bump of a head, with two cold steel blue eyes, pointy nose and a malicious toothy grin, and wore a crimson metal spartan helmet on its head. But the most terrifying aspect of the new robot was it's weapon it wielded over it's shoulder; a massive hammer almost as big as the body of the robot itself, solid steel and plated with red spikes.

"Wh-what the hell is that thing?!" Lilac cried, getting up out of the snow. There was nothing but dead silence before the giant robot started lumbering towards the dragon girl. "I guess Brevon's chronies weren't all shut down after the Dreadnought crashed. Alright you bucket of bolts, bring it!" She yelled, curling into a ball and Dragon Boosting at the robot...

* * *

 _Dragon Valley..._

"Huh, for an alien planet, this sure feels a lot like home..." Sonic said, hoping off the wing of the Tornado onto the snow-covered ground. "Albeit a bit more frosty up here. So, where do we begin looking for any of Egghead's robots?"

"Not sure..." Tails said, checking his scanner. "But I am picking up an odd energy signal to the north of here..." He said, looking up from his scanner. "And it does look like there's some kind of city off in that direction..."

"Tell you what? How about we split up? Divide and conquer and all that jazz." Sonic said, shrugging. "You head north and check out that odd energy signal coming from that city."

"Well, what about you Sonic?"

"Me?" Sonic asked. "I've got a lot of running space here. It shouldn't be too hard to search this place out."

"Well, I guess..." Tails said, hoping back into the seat of the Tornado. "I guess we'll meet back up here later."

"Kay then, though I don't know how you're gonna take off without much room." Sonic shrugged. "Maybe we should've thought twice before landing here."

"Hey, don't worry about it." Tails said, hitting a button on the inside of the plane's cockpit. Soon the Plane had folded in its wings and transformed into an off-road buggy. "I've still got a few tricks up my sleeves."

Sonic smirked a bit. "Tails, you never fail to surprise me!" He said. "Just be careful out there!" Tails nodded, before having the buggy take off across the snow towards the large city. "Now... if I were a giant killer robot, where would I be wreaking havoc?" Sonic's question soon would be answered as a giant metal capsule fell out of the sky into the snow-covered forest below. "Well, I guess that answers my question!" He said, dashing off in the direction of the crash...

* * *

Lilac collided dead on with the center of the titanic robot, plinking off the robot's armor with a dull thud. The robot immediately retaliated and swung it's hammer, slamming into Lilac's side and flinging her into the stone wall. Lilac gasped in pain as she fell into the snowbank on the floor, the giant robot raising its hammer and preparing to flatten the dragon girl into the ground. Lilac rolled to the side just as the hammer came crashing down, the hammer just barely missing her. Lilac then quickly got to her feet and ran up the side of the hammer before getting on top and leaping at the robot, spinning in a top formation and whipping her tendrils against its metallic armor. The tendrils barely left a scratch as soon the robot grabbed her and threw her across the room, slamming her into the floor before jumping and creating a shockwave, sending her into the air before swinging the hammer and slamming it into her back, sending her careening through a stone wall and collapsing into a heap. Lilac's breathing became erratic as she got back up, hands on her knees and out of breath as the gigantic robot lumbered forward.

 _"Okay, this isn't working..."_ Lilac thought to herself. _"Nearly every single attack I've thrown at this thing as merely bounced off or not even made this thing flinch.. He's gotta have a weak spot somewhere..."_ Before the giant robot got any closer, an icy blast hit the robot's feet, locking it in place. Lilac shot a look over to see a snow-covered Neera-Li, a blue glow surrounding the tip of her scepter. "About time you joined in Neera!"

"Save your remarks for when you're not fighting for your life, draconian!" Neera said, firing another blast of ice at one of the robot's hands, pinning it to the wall. "Right now our survival is important to the situation at hand!"

"Its armor's too strong!" Lilac yelled back, the ice shattering around the robot's hand as it broke free of the frozen cuff that its hand was encased in. "There's gotta be a weak spot on it somewhere!"

"Well, keep looking!" Neera said, firing off another ice blast at the giant robot.

 _"I just hope Carol and Milla are having an easier time than we are..."_ Lilac thought, before launching off into another Dragon Boost at the giant robot...

* * *

 _Shang Mu..._

The crimson buildings and roadways towered over the Avalician citizens as the late night drove on. The trio of Avalicians that had arrived from Shang Tu were already were discussing where to check for the gemstone first.

"So, you guys think Mayor Egotist has the gemstone?" Carol asked. "It'd seem likely to me that he'd get his little hands around that thing, especially if it has the same power output as the Kingdom Stone did."

General Gong nodded. "The royal palace for Shang Mu shouldn't be too far from here. We should be able to get there relatively fast."

"But what if the emerald thingie isn't there?" Milla asked innocently. "What do we do then?"

"I was thinking I could check the Scarves old hideout here." Carol said, rolling her wrist a bit. "I should know the place inside and out before Lilac and I abandoned them. It should be a piece 'a cake."

"And if they would be there right now?" Gong asked.

"Hey, just leave it to me!" Carol said, winking. "In fact, how about I head to the Scarves hideout and scope out there, and Milla and you head over to Zao's and see if he's got the gem?"

"Are you sure you'll be okay by yourself Carol?" Milla asked, her expression filled with concern. "I-it may be too dangerous for you alone!"

"Hey, Milla, don't worry!" Carol said, smirking and giving her a thumbs up. "I've already got loads of stealth training from when Lilac and I were part of the Scarves. I can be in and out of there before they even know what hit 'em!"

"Well..." Gong started. "You be careful there. Last thing we want to do is tell Lilac that we lost you to the Scarves."

Carol nodded. "I'll meet up with you guys later after you talk with Mayor Egotist!" She said, before kicking her bike into high gear and taking off towards the eastern part of the city.

Milla turned back to General Gong. "I'm really worried about her..." Milla spoke.

Gong nodded. "We just need to let her do what she needs to do. C'mon now," He said, setting the young hound onto his back. "We've got a visit with Zao."

* * *

"Let's see..." The young kitsune said, checking the radar inside the buggy, currently on one of the highways that went over Shang Mu. "Okay, east side of the city... lower levels... ah, there it is!" He said, the blip on his radar glowing brightly. "Okay, just need to make the turnoff here... but there's no exit.." He said, looking over the edge to see a large dropoff into the city streets. "Well then, time to improvise!" He said, flipping a switch on the dashboard and soon a hydraulic spring mechanism activated, bouncing the car up and off the highway, toward the city streets below. Tails then quickly activated boosters and had the car come in for a gliding landing right into an open part of the street, startling a good number of Avalicians that were not expecting the buggy to come out of nowhere and land on the street. Tails pulled over to the side of the street and got out of the buggy, taking the radar with him.

"Let's see..." He said, turning the corner into an alley. "The signal's getting stronger here.." The young kitsune turned a corner in the alley and came to a dead end, a manhole on the ground and some cans of trash and a dumpster nearby.

"What the..." Tails said, checking his radar. "This doesn't seem right..." He then heard footsteps coming his way. Panicking, he hid behind the dumpster in the alley, slightly peering out to see what was going on. A lone figure, female, green fur, had entered into the back alley, not knowing that the kitsune was here. She looked around, checking to make sure that no one else was here, then opened up the manhole and lept down it. Tails got out from his hiding spot and looked at the hole in the ground, double-checking his radar and seeing the signal was coming from down the hole.

"I REALLY didn't want to have to go into the sewers today..." Tails sighed. "I guess I have no choice though..." He said, holding his breath and jumping down the hole. As soon as he landed, he felt a swift kick into the small of his back, launching him forward into the wall and knocking his head against the wall before he fell back, stars circling around his head before the force picked him up with one hand on his right shoulder and pinned him against the wall. Tails' vision soon cleared to see his instigator: the same green-furred feline from earlier! Her eyes narrowed as she tightened her grip on his shoulder, her other fist raised and aimed straight at the kitsune's face.

"Alright fuz-face," The feline growled. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't believe you're a Red Scarf and whoop your ass right now."

"A-a red what?" Tails sputtered. "I-I don't even know what you're talking about!"

"Then why are you down here?" The feline growled.

"I-I followed you down here!" Tails said. "B-besides, I'm looking for something down here!"

The feline seemed to loosen up a bit. "So, you're looking for something? What exactly is it?"

"Something resembling a diamond!" Tails said, sweating bullets. "I-I have a tracker saying that it's down here!"

The feline seemed to calm down a bit more. "Oh. So the Magister sent you too, huh?"

"Wait, Magister?" Tails asked.

"Heh, no need for words, I understand." Carol said. "I get you're looking for the gem. How about ya help me get it?"

"Well, I was coming down here regardless, but.."

"And you have a radar saying that the gem was down here?" Carol asked. "Interesting. I can see we're gonna make good partners." She said, sticking her hand out. "Carol the Wildcat. Your name?"

"Miles Prower," Tails said, extending his hand a small smile appearing on his face. "Though everyone calls me by my nickname Tails."

"Well Tails," Carol said, a large grin appearing on her face. "It'll be a pleasure working with you. Now let's go." And so the two took off, Carol leading the way, toward the hideout of the Red Scarves...

* * *

Crackling resounded throughout the cavern as the giant robot wrenched its feet free of the ice. Lilac boosted forward into the robot again and leaped over the robot, slamming her feet into the side of the robot's head. The robot didn't even so much as flinch before grabbing Lilac and slamming her into the wall, constantly beating her until it slammed her through the wall, leaving her in a collapsed rubble heap, irregular breath as she struggled to get up. Neera fired off several ice blasts at the robot, but every shot barely managed to shut it down or even slow it. Neera was starting to get erratic in her ice blasts, some outright missing the robot and hitting the walls. Before the robot could grab her, Neera performed an axle flip over the robot's head and struck the metallic helmet in the side. The only thing it did was make a light dining sound as the robot turned and swung its hammer rapidly, pivoting on it's body in a circle so fast, it was a surprise it didn't take off. The hammer collided with Neera and slammed her into another wall, leaving her dazed and confused on the ground.

But the robot forgot one key design flaw it had: spinning with the hammer made it lose its balance. The robot teetered on one of its feet, nearly ready to fall over. And Lilac was the one to instigate it; having partially recovered from her wall crashing, the draconian girl performed a Dragon Boost and slammed into the backside of the mech, knocking it forward and throwing its helmet on the ground. Lilac backed off as the robot got up, a bright glowing bump on the top of its head.

 _"So that's why it was resisting everything..."_ Lilac thought to herself, breathing heavily. _"Well, At least I now know where to hit that thing... Now, let's get this thing down befo-"_

"YAHOO!" A voice resounded from above the draconian. This threw her off guard until a blue figure came out of the hole into the ceiling, smashing through the top of the robot, caving in its head and smashing through the underside of it. The robot sputtered and sparked before time caught up and it split in half right down the center, causing the two halves to fall to either side of the blue figure. Lilac looked between the blue figure and the smashed halves of the robot, confused as to what just happened. "Aw hell yeah! I've still got it in me!"

"Uh... hi?" Lilac said hesitantly, drawing the attention of the blue figure. She gave a small nervous smile as he turned to her.

"Oh," The figure said, scratching his head. "Didn't realize someone else was down here. Wish I would've gotten here sooner, you look worse for wear."

"Yeah..." Lilac said, a small blush appearing on her cheeks. True, her appearance had her outfit torn in several places and a bit bloody from her damage she had been hit by from the robot, but she was still conscious, so that was a plus. "Sorry about the look."

"Eh, it's no problem." The blue figure said, shrugging. "I was just trying to track down a certain egghead's toys and stop them from finding something that he REALLY doesn't need."

"Well, that's a coincidence." Lilac said, walking closer to the blue figure. "I'm looking for something too. Maybe you can help?"

"I was already planning on looking for it, guess it wouldn't hurt to team up a bit." The figure said. "Don't think we've met before. You are?"

Lilac smiled a bit. "Sash Lilac, dragon. And you are?"

The figure smiled, flashing her a thumbs-up. "Name's Sonic, Sonic the HedgehAA-" Sonic was interrupted as a look of shock appeared on his face as he was soon encased in a gigantic block of ice. Lilac jumped back in shock, only to look over and see Neera-Li, standing in the hole in the wall that was created by her a moment ago, battered and bruised, her Ice Scepter cracking from the recently fired blast. Needless to say, Lilac was furious.

"What the hell Neera?!" Lilac growled. "He was going to help us!"

"I apologize for the rather uncouth action against the newcomer, Lilac." Neera said, steeling a cold glance over to the draconian. "But at this point, compromises have to be made, and I'm not one to find out that's he's working for the enemy."

"What's your deal?!" Lilac growled. "He did nothing to us!"

"Nothing more than taking precautions to guarantee Avalice's survival and keeping the Kingdom Stone's energy safe." Neera said, picking up the frozen Sonic. " I'll thaw him out when we get back to the Magister. Now grab your cloak and let's go." She said, walking towards the exit with the frozen Sonic. Lilac growled and grabbed her discarded cloak, following Neera out of the Relic Maze...

* * *

 _Scarves Hideout..._

"So, what's that radar you yours say where that gem is?" Carol asked, ducking behind a corner that led to a long hallway.

"It shouldn't be much farther." Tails said, getting up and about to go around the corner, before Carol grabbed him and pulled him away.

"You do that in here, it can get you killed." Carol said, looking around the corner. "Leave this to the ninja." She said, before dive-rolling behind a stack of crates in the hallway. She slowly peered her eyes around the corner to see what looked like a sentry gun, manned, at the end of the next hallway. _"Now how are we gonna get past that..."_ She thought, before noticing the vent overhead. She smirked to herself before leaping up, grabbing the vent cover and pulling it off and pulled herself into the vent. She felt a bump behind her as she looked over her shoulder to see Tails, a bit embarrassed that he had bumped into the wildcat.

"Keep your space kid!" Carol growled, crawling through the vent. "How close are we to the gem?"

"Just a second.." Tails said, checking the radar. "We're close, it's just nearby."

Carol nodded. "Ok, let's just mo-" was all that came out of her mouth before the floor of the vent opened up under the two, causing the two to fall into the room. Tails regained consciousness to find that the wildcat and him were staring face to face. A small blush crept up onto his face, as well as Carol's. The two stared at eachother awkwardly before Carol shoved Tails off of her. "Hey, hands off!" Carol said, getting up and dusting herself off, but not before noticing the cyan-colored gem sitting on the large desk in the room.

"Well, looks like that radar did work!" Carol said. "Nice job dude!"

"Heheh, thanks..." Tails said, nervously smiling. "Just grab the Chaos Emerald an-"

"Chaos Emerald?" Carol asked. "Is that what these things are called?"

"Uh..." Tails started to explain, before alarms started going off. "Wh-what?!"

"Ah, shoot!" Carol said, seizing the kitsune's wrist. "You can explain later! We gotta go before we become pelts!" She said, leaping up into the vent, mere seconds before the door opened. In the doorway with a horde of black-clothed figures was a white panda, dressed in a similar attire and with black shades. This was Spade, a high-ranking member of the Red Scarves, and needless to say, he wasn't too pleased with Carol and Tails taking off with the gemstone.

"Find them," Spade said. "And make sure you get that gem back."

* * *

"C'mon, what the heck are ya doing?!" Carol said, Tails shooting out of the hole with the gem in his hand. "Let's go already!"

"Relax, I'm moving!" Tails said, the two running out of the back alley. "I'll draw them away! You get out of here and I'll meet up with you later!"

"Oh hell no!" Carol growled. "We're sticking together!"

"Trust me! I know what I'm doing!" Tails said, getting into his buggy. "Just hop in! We'll lose 'em this way!"

"Let me get my bike!" Carol said, rushing around the corner, before coming back around the corner on her red motorcycle. "Well what the hell are ya waiting for?! Let's get going!"

Tails nodded and hit the gas pedal. The back tires spun out before traction kicked in and he took off, Carol right behind him. "So where are we going?" Tails yelled to Carol.

"Get the right turn up here!" Carol yelled, pointing towards the upcoming intersection. "We'll lose 'em at the city hall!"

Tails nodded before spinning hard right on the wheel, tires screeching as they tried to resist flipping the buggy itself as he powered around the corner. Carol made the hard right easier since her bike was much more maneuverable, but Tails risked flipping the buggy and it was a miracle that he didn't. The buggy regained its posture and soon was taking off down the road at high speed, Carol right next to him.

"Jeez, can you even control that thing?!" Carol said. "You nearly flipped back there!"

"I normally don't do high speeds in buggy mode!" Tails said.

"Well, get it together!" Carol yelled, looking forward at the road ahead. "Cause we got company!" Ahead of the two were some of the Red Scarves, already getting sentry guns set up in order to stop the two dead. "What do we do?! They're blocking off the only road to city hall on this side of Shang Mu!"

"Get behind me!" Tails said, maxing out the gas pedal. Carol stayed right behind Tails buggy as Tails soon crashed through the sentry setup, scrap metal flying across all sides before Carol moved out from behind him, driving back up next to him.

"Dude, that was pretty ballsy of ya!" Carol said, a small twinkle in her eye. "Didn't know you had it in ya to do that!"

"Oh, heheh," Tails said, bushing a bit. "Thanks." He said, looking over his shoulder to his right. "Doesn't look like we're done yet though!" At that point, another truck had pulled up and slammed into the side, forcing the buggy to nearly tilt over and be run off the road. Carol went wide-eyed as the buggy shifted towards her, kicking the gear in her bike up and pulling forward before she could be run into the sidewalk. One of the Red Scarf ninjas jumped off the back of the truck and landed on top of the buggy, pulling out a bomb and preparing to blow Tails sky high. Tails saw the attempt on his life and veered hard right into the other truck, knocking the Red Scarf off the truck and having the bomb detonate in the middle of the street.

Tails looked over to Carol before he yelled, "Hope you can keep up!" He then hit a button on his console, the plane's original jet booster activating and blasting the buggy forward at high speed. Carol hit a button on her bike handlebars and soon the bike picked up speed, taking off after Tails. The Red Scarf took notice and hit a button on the dash, with five smaller rocket jets popping out of the back of the truck and taking off after the two.

"Shoot!" Carol yelled, looking over her shoulder at the approaching truck with the Scarves. "They're gaining on us!"

"Hold on!" Tails said, noticing the train tracks up ahead. "We can lose them this way!" He said, pulling forward toward the tracks as the crossing gates were being lowered. Carol spotted a pile of construction rubble forming a ramp near the track, and her ideas got the better of her. She pulled off the road and drove straight for the ramp, maxing out her speed before she hit the ramp. Tails burst through the gate and across the track, with Carol flying overhead, a split second before the train came. The Scarves were not so lucky, the train colliding head on with the side of the truck, creating a massive explosion. Tails and Carol continued to drive away, not looking back at what happened.

"Oh... my... god..." Carol breathed. "That... was the COOLEST THING EVER!" She squealed, looking over to Tails with bright eyes. "Dude, that was hella awesome! How'd you know how to do that?!"

"Eh, well," Tails chuckled, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "I guess I got a little carried away. Anyways, where's the palace?"

"Hey, just follow me!" Carol said, flashing him a thumbs up. She then pulled ahead in front of Tails, leading the young kitsune to the royal city hall of Shang Mu...

* * *

"So, Zao hasn't seen the gem either.." Gong grumbled to himself, walking down the stairs in front of city hall. "Well, this ain't good. That might mean that Carol's having better luck than we are."

"But didn't she say she'd meet us back here if she succeeded or not?" Milla asked innocently. "What if the Scarves find her in there? Those meanies could really hurt her!"

"Have a little faith in her Milla," Gong said. "I'm sure she'll be just fine.."

At that point, a red buggy and Carol's motorbike came to a screeching halt, the wildcat looking up to the other two on the steps. "Hey, c'mon guys!" Carol called. "We've got the gem, let's get back to Shang Tu!"

Milla, nodded, hopping off of General Gong and onto the back of Carol's motorbike. "Hey, Tails, mind giving Gong a lift back?"

Tails shook his head. "I mean, if they're friends of yours, sure. I can give them a lift! Where's Shang Tu?"

"Just follow my lead. It'll just be past Jade Creek and then it's a straight shot to Shang Tu!" Carol said, revving up her bike. Soon she took off, Tails following right behind in the buggy with Gong...

* * *

"So, you were ambushed by a robot while investigating the ruins.." The Magister spoke. "Rather unusual..."

"Whatever this may be, it's more than likely linked with the giant tremor and the large metallic claw attaching itself to the planet." Neera said, raising one of her fists. "We can't afford to waste any more time with anything trivial."

"Neera, we've only had one robot attack us. ONE." Lilac retorted. "Just because we have one robot attack us, you want to go on the offensive like this is the Second War?"

"I did not specifically say that, now did I draconian?" Neera said. "Even with my premature assumption about our hedgehog friend, chances have to be taken."

"Neera..." Lilac said, before clutching her side in pain. "You should have given him a chance before you just decide to turn him into a popsicle."

"Neera, I advise you to unfreeze this person right now." The Magister spoke. "Let him speak his word as to why he's here on our world in the first place."

"Your majesty.." Neera started, before Lilac shot her a cold glare. Neera sighed. "Very well." She said, striking the side of the giant ice cube, creating cracks and eventually cracking, all the ice crumbling around the blue figure. He remained still for a second before he blinked and time caught up, the cool air of the night causing him to shiver.

"Brrrr!" Sonic said, shuddering from being frozen. "This ain't exactly the treatment I was expecting when I got here!"

"My apologies for the rather unwarm welcome, my hedgehog friend." Neera said, the scepter at her side for standby in case the hedgehog couldn't be trusted. "The Magister expects an explanation as to why you're here, so I suggest you speak directly to him with respect. We need to figure out exactly why our homeworld has a gigantic metal claw attached to it right now."

"Neera!" Lilac said. Neera rolled her eyes at Lilac's retort, starting to get annoyed at the draconian's interuptions. "You know, sometimes I really have to question your process of how you go about stuff like this.."

"I'm sorry, am I the only one that has rather questionable methods?" Neera objected, staring deathly at Lilac. "I admit I'm not perfect, but at least I'm trying to get the information we need to understand this situation."

"That's still no way to treat him!" Lilac said, glaring at Neera. "You can't just treat everyone like they're the biggest criminal on Avalice!"

"Avalice, huh?" Sonic said. "So that's the name of this place. Gotta say, reminds me a LOT of Mobius..."

"Mobius?" Lilac asked, confused. "I...don't think I've ever heard of there before. I-Is it far away?"

"Well, it's an entirely other planet, if that's a surprise." Sonic said, scratching his ear. "I know the idea of a visitor from another world may sound like crazy talk, but it's not entirely ridiculous from where I come from."

"Well, we DID have a visitor from space over a year ago." Lilac said. "Let's just say that he wasn't on friendly terms when he came here."

"Heh, I know how that can be." Sonic said, before the doors to the room opened, and in had walked Tails, Carol, and Gong with Milla on his back. Carol had a wide grin on her face as she clutched the cyan gem in her hand.

"Well, score one for us!" Carol said, tossing the gem up in her hand. "The Scarves didn't even have a chance!"

"So, the Scarves had the gem?" Neera said, her eyes narrowing. "Well, it only makes getting the emerald back a greater win for us. At least we know for sure that we have the gemstones in our possesion."

"I knew I could trust you guys!" Lilac said, a smile appearing on her face, before she noticed the two-tailed fox. "Hm? Who's your new friend there Carol?"

"Oh, him?" Carol asked, motioning a thumb to the kitsune. "Probably the COOLEST kid I've ever met! This is Tails!" She said, shoving the kitsune forward to Lilac.

"Uh, heheh, hi." Tails said nervously, before noticing the blue hedgehog near her. "Oh, Sonic! Any luck on your part?"

"Eh, not really," Sonic said. "Aside from making a new friend."

"Darn straight." Lilac said, before she clutched her side in pain, letting out a small gasp. "Ahh..." She groaned, clenching her eyes shut in pain. "That really hurts..."

"I should suggest that you two go and heal yourselves in the healing spas." The Magister spoke. "While we may have all three gems that crashed on our planet now in our possession, this does not mean we can relax yet. There's still an important matter on our hands as to why all this phenomena has been happening."

Sonic and Lilac both nodded, Lilac leading Sonic to the spas, her flinching the entire way there. "Now then," He said, turning back to the group. "Young kitsune, there is something we need to discuss..."

* * *

"I never truly thought we'd get visitors from another world so soon..." Lilac said, taking a step into the spa. "It's only been a year..."

"I'm curious, who was this 'visitor'?" Sonic said, relaxing within the heated spa as Lilac sat down near him.

"His name was Brevon," Lilac spoke, a small hint of fear in her voice. "An intergalactic warlord more focused on trying to keep his homeworld alive by stealing energy sources from other planets than anything else. He had crash-landed on our world over a year ago, and in only three days he nearly started a war between the three kingdoms so that he would make off with the Kingdom Stone.."

"Kingdom Stone?" Sonic asked, intrigued by the discussion.

"Avalice's life source." Lilac said. "Long ago, dragons came to Avalice and mixed with our ancestors, with the greatest gift being the Kingdom Stone. The Kingdom Stone was created to supply unlimited energy to the three kingdoms, but last year, everything had changed after Brevon had crashed on the planet. He killed the original king of Shuigang, manipulated his son, Prince Dail, into his underling, and tried to kill off the entire planet with stealing the Kingdom Stone. But the worst came when Carol, Milla, and I interfered to stop him. I had went off alone to confront him in one of his bases in the giant lake near the outlet of Jade Creek..." She said, her eyes starting to fill with tears.

"What happened?" Sonic asked, starting to show concern.

"He was too powerful for me at our first encounter.." She said, moving her tendrils for Sonic to see. "See these? I use these for most of my attacking. He knew this... After he stopped me and knocked me unconscious, I was strapped to a metal slab, my tendrils were hacked off, he was making sure I was helpless... and then there were the electrocutions... it felt like my entire body was about to explode, my face was burning... if it weren't for Carol and the others arriving and finding me, I would've been dead..."

"...sounds like you've been through more in the span of a few days than I've been for a year..." Sonic said, noticing the tears in the draconian's eyes.

"I'm normally rather cheerful, but... it pains me to bring up the events of what happened last year. I-I'm sorry, I get a little too emotional when it comes to the invasion of Brevon..." Lilac said, tears starting to stream down her cheeks. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked over to see Sonic, a concerned look on his face.

"Lilac," He said. "If there's one thing you need to do, it's that you need to be strong. I mean, look at me. I've basically been through hell and back, and I don't dwell on it. So look on the bright side; everyone's still here and alive. It's best to look forward."

Lilac sat there and stared at him. Here he was, what would have been a complete stranger to her normally, yet here he was, giving her a talk for support as if he was a close friend! A small smile started to grow on her face as she wrapped her arms around Sonic and hugged him, catching the blue hedgehog off guard.

"Thanks Sonic.." Lilac said, looking into the hedgehog's emerald-jade green eyes. "I think I needed that.."

Sonic nodded. "Hey, it's no problem. After all, life's no fun if your outlook on it sucks."

Lilac giggled a bit. "Yeah, I guess so.."

"Hey, Sonic? Lilac?" Tails' voice said from the other side of the room, near the door. "I hope you're able to finish up shortly. The Magister would like to speak with us about the emeralds!"

"Almost done Tails!" Sonic called back. "Just give us a few more minutes!" With that, the sound of a door shutting was heard from across the room. Sonic turned his attention to Lilac.

"Well, we should get moving..."


	3. Chapter 2: Enter the Eggman

_**Sonic and Lilac: Tides of Chaos  
**_ _ **Act 1**_

 _Chapter 2: Enter the Eggman_

* * *

After getting out of the spa and getting dressed, Sonic and Lilac made their way back to the Magister's large room. Tails has just gotten finished discussing something important with him as Sonic and Lilac walked up.

"Ah, there you guys are." Tails said. "Was wondering when you two would get here. You guys soak up well?"

"We're fine Tails," Sonic said, crossing his arms. "Anywho, what's all the hubbub about? We've got some sort of solution to get that giant claw off of Avalice?"

"Not exactly..." Tails said, pulling up a hologram of the predicament in question. "With all this commotion happening, we weren't able to come up with a solution to remove it, what with the chaos of having to get the emeralds back and all."

"Well, we've got three of them right with us now," Sonic said, a small smirk appearing on his face. "If we get the other four, I could go super an-"

"Wait, there's more gems?" Lilac asked. "I thought it was only these three."

"Well, there's actually seven Chaos Emeralds." Tails said. "They're from our world, though I'm still confused as to why they ended up here in the first place..."

"It may have something to do with the power of the Kingdom Stone." The Magister spoke. "As your kitsune friend was kind enough to inform me while you two were healing, it seems the energy wavelengths within your gemstones match those of the Kingdom Stone."

"Wait, how?" Sonic asked. "Tails, I though we only took one emerald to the Lost Hex!"

"We did," Tails said confidently. "But based on how much you used it during that time, it's possible that the excess energy buildup that happened must have transferred into some of the other emeralds when we came back. It would explain why they came here in the first place."

"It would make sense..." Lilac said, thinking. "Maybe they wanted to be with the Kingdom Stone?"

"Now why would a bunch of gems from however far Tails' planet is want to come here to be with the Kingdom Stone?" Carol said, a rather skeptical look on her face. "Lilac, don't you think that might be a bit too incredulous, even for us?"

"Well, she would have a point," Tails said. "On our world, we have a relic known as the Master Emerald, which is what can control the other Chaos Emeralds. However, with the power shift leakage, the Emeralds must have been searching for a new master relic, hence this Kingdom Stone of her world."

"So, we've got some sort of freaky Kingdom Emerald hybrid or something?" Sonic said, shrugging. "Eh, guess that means Eggman's gonna want those just as much."

"Eggman?" Carol asked. "Sounds like some sort of goof. Who's he?"

"Eh, mad scientist hell-bent on trying to take over our world and make it his own amusement park by using a robot army powered by small animals." Sonic said, noticing Lilac was giving him an odd look. "Yeah, and you thought your enemy was weird enough. We have to deal with him on a near-daily-to-monthly attack schedule."

"Damn," Carol said, putting a hand on her hip. "And here he sounds like some sort of goofy clown or sumthin'."

"Heh, unless he's trying to pull something REALLY stupid, far from it." Sonic said, a cocky smile beginning to grow on his face. "He's summoned an ancient water god, tried to blow up the planet with a space cannon, split the planet apart to use a demonic god of darkness, kidnapped five other planets to use for a mind-control juice, try to drain the planet of its life force to use for one of his mechs-"

"Good god..." Lilac breathed. "You seriously HAVE been through hell and back..."

"Damn, he's maybe even cooler than you Lilac!" Carol said, crossing her arms. "And you were the one who blew Brevon's Dreadnought to smithereens last year!"

"Yeah.." Lilac said, looking over to Sonic. "I guess we know who's got more experience here.."

"Look, who's got more experience here is besides the point." Sonic said. "The point is, Eggman plus unlimitied energy on this planet equals Christmas day for him. He'd literally be unstoppable if he nails the energy and uses it."

Tails nodded. "We've gotta secure the Kingdom Stone at all costs while we're here. Once that's done, we ca-"

"Uh, yeah... about that.." Carol said, scratching her ear with a nervous look across her face. "The Kingdom Stone... kinda got disintegrated last year after Brevon's ship exploded."

"Wait if the stone was destroyed, then how..." Tails asked, before the Magister had finally spoken up since the conversation had started.

"I assume that neither of the young ones informed you of the Kingdom Stone's transformation last year, correct?" He spoke.

"Well, where is it now?" Sonic said, crossing his arms.

"Take a look outside the balcony..." The Magister said, turning towards away from the group. Sonic and Tails turned to look outside to see a large shimmering, swirling vortex of blue lights across the sky. Tails eyes lit up in amazement and Sonic let out a loud whistle.

"Dang, that's the Stone?" Sonic said. "Must've been a hell of an explosion to have it turn into that!"

"Well, yeah.." Milla said, rubbing the back of her head.

"E-Either way..." Tails said, pressing a couple buttons on his watch. "We need to secure this energy before Eggman tries to make his move. The problem is... we don't exactly know how to."

"Whadaya mean?" Carol asked. "I doubt this Eggman goof is gonna steal the energy in a non-solid form. It'd be next to impossible!"

"I wouldn't be too sure about that.." Tails said. "Eggman's a big genius. No doubt he might be able to create some sort of energy conductor to create a pseudo-vessel for the energy to be stored in."

"Well, we can't have that, now can we?" Sonic said, a smirk appearing on his face while he cracked his knuckles. "So, how about we go scramble some Eggman?"

"Mind if I come?" Lilac said. "After all, this is our world he's messing with."

"You bet I'm coming too!" Carol said, a large grin creeping up on her face. "I could use a decent punching bag for training!"

"Um..." Milla said, feeling a bit shy about the sudden leave. "I-I wanna come too!" A near silence fell over the group as everyone turned their attention to the young Basset. "C-can I...?"

"I dunno..." Carol said, looking over to Lilac. "Lilac, you sure it's a good idea to bring her along after what happened last year?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Lilac said, crossing her arms. "I thought you were going to teach her a few of your moves after what happened."

"Well, I can try, but I can't really teach her anything that can warrant her breaking free of a giant brute's chokehold." Carol said, sending her a look that spoke, 'are you kidding me right now?' . "Besides, she's been more busy using her psychic shield powers and whatever else she's been doing with it than my moves I've been teaching her. AND not to mention I've had bike issues I needed to attend to."

"At least I've been trying!" Milla whined, before Sonic interjected.

"Girls, girls, calm down," Sonic said. "Lilac, it's your choice on whether or not you want Milla to join us."

"Well..." Lilac said, looking between the young hound and the hedgehog. " _What do I choose?_ " Lilac thought to herself. " _I don't want to risk losing her permanently after what happened on Brevon's ship..._ " Her thoughts were interrupted when a large resounding crash was heard outside. A few seconds had passed before an all too familiar voice had resounded from outside, much to the disdain of Sonic and Tails.

"Greetings people of this civilization of another world!" The voice sounded. Sonic and Tails groaned at the sound of the voice.

"Wait, who's that?" Lilac asked, a confused look on her face.

Sonic sighed, pinching his forehead. "That would be Eggman..."

* * *

The citizens of Shang Tu were terrified of the new figure that had appeared in the middle of the streets. A gigantic mech was now standing in the middle of the streets nearly as tall as a four-story building, covered in titanium armor, it stood on two gigantic feet, accented with spikes, leading up to the gigantic body of the robot, having massive spiked shoulders. Attached to the left forearm of the robot was a gigantic shield, outfitted with a giant spike on the front. It's right arm had no hand, rather, it had a gigantic spiked mace, so fierce-looking that it looked like it was about to crush anyone any second now. At the head of the robot, modeled after the creator, was none other than Dr. Eggman, accompanied by a metallic version of Sonic, deathly staring at the crowd if anyone dared to attack the doctor.

"Now then, I apologize for my rather uncouth entrance onto your world, but as of now that is besides the point." He said, a giant grin on his face. "All you have to do is tell me where the giant energy source of this planet is..."

The crowd muttered among themselves, unsure whether or not to trust this shady figure on his word or not. Eggman's glances seemed to scan the crown, looking to see any sort of resistance. Many look confused, others threatened, and others angry. The doc's robot however, was looking for any sign of insubordination that the crowd would attempt. Soon one member of the crowd stepped forward, an unpleasant look on his face.

"Why should we tell you where the Kingdom Stone's energy is?" The person spoke, a hint of anger in his voice.

"Now then, there's no need to get nasty," Eggman spoke from the cockpit. "I'd prefer to keep any sort of casualty count to a minimum, I DO have standards." More worried muttering rose up as the doctor continued. "You see, I am looking for an energy in order to power my greatest invention yet! The only of what I want is to see where this energy lies.."

This seemed to upset quite a number of people as they were against this idea. Voices rose out of the crowd as they spoke out against Eggman, only to be silenced as the metallic Sonic's arm morphed into a minigun barrel, pointed straight at the civilians of Shang Tu. People screamed in terror as they scrambled from the area.

"Metal! What have I told you about arming your weapons?!" Eggman yelled at the robot. The robot turned his head and looked at the doctor.

"Necessary persuasion protocol." Metal replied emotionessly. "...and it appears we're not alone here..."

"What?!" Eggman said.

"Ya got that right Eggster!" A voice said, before a blue blur and a violet streak were flung forward and slammed into the glass dome of the mech. The blurs rebounded and landed on the ground in front of the mech, revealing that it was none other than the hedgehog and draconian, a cocky smile on the hedgehog's face. "What, ya think we wouldn't notice you dragging an entire planet out of its orbit?"

"Or try to take my planet's energy?" Lilac added. "I may not know who exactly you are, but Sonic here was more than happy to fill me in on the details!"

"Hmph! As if I wouldn't know that you'd try to interfere with my plans!" Eggman said, an almost unusual amount of cheer in his voice. "And look, you brought your... ehm... what the hell IS that?"

"What, never seen a dragon before?" Lilac said, placing a hand on her hip. "Well, some genius you are if you can't even identify my species!"

"I suggest you silence yourself!" Eggman said, crashing down the mace mere inches in front of the two, Sonic not even flinching while Lilac jumped back in shock. "Lest you want to become a well-ground beef surprise from my Egg Breaker 2.0, codenamed the Egg Wrecker!"

Sonic yawned. "So an upgraded version of one of your tin cans, big surprise." Sonic said sarcastically. "Like that's anything new. What's next, another robot me?"

"I suggest you silence yourself, copy." Metal's voice dripped with hatred, aiming his minigun arm straight at the two.

"Oh look! I was right! It's like I'm psychic or something!" Sonic said, smirking. "C'mon Eggman, at least TRY to be original!"

"I said SILENCE!" Metal said, pressing the minigun barrel up against Sonic's head. Sonic merely smirked, before grabbing Metal Sonic by the barrel and flinging him into the side of the large mech, barely leaving a dent.

"Should never let your guard down, bolts-for-brains!" Sonic said. "Lilac, let's get 'em!"

"Didn't have to tell me twice!" Lilac said, before curling up into a signature ball before blasting ahead in a trail of sparks, performing a Dragon Boost straight at the robot. Eggman raised the mech's mace arm and prepared to swing it down onto the draconian. Lilac saw this attack and dodged to the right just as the mace arm came down. But unbeknownst to her, the doctor had played her into his hand. Metal soon appeared right in front of her, armed with a rocket launcher arm and fired a triple rocket blast, unavoidable to the dragon girl. The rockets collided with her and blasted the girl backwards. With quick grace, Lilac flipped over and landed on her feet, skidding across the ground before the robot had charged at her, sharpened claws ready to slash at the girl. Lilac countered and slammed into Metal with the full force of another Dragon Boost, before slamming the robotic Sonic into the air with her tendrils. Metal quickly stabilized and soon armed a particle beam and aimed it straight at the dragon girl. Lilac prepared to dodge before feeling a force push her away from the blast just as it fired. A cry of agony filled the air as Lilac looked back at who had shoved her; it was Tails, a look of pain on his face as soon Lilac saw what had happened; Tails now had a nic in the side of his ear, singed from the fired beam, flinching in pain.

"Tails!" Lilac cried.

"Don't worry about me!" Tails said, tossing her the lavender Chaos Emerald. "I'll go help Sonic! You take care of Metal!" Lilac nodded, catching the emerald, and Tails took off over to Sonic to fight Eggman as Carol rushed over, a small tear in her jacket and a trace amount of blood leaking out of it. Lilac looked in horror at Carol's injury until she noticed.

"Don't worry about it! I was just reckless!" Carol growled, dodging another blast from Metal. "Let's just take care of this bucket of bolts before Shang Tu's leveled!"

Lilac nodded, before blasting off forward at Metal...

* * *

The mace slammed with full force into the ground, knocking the blue hedgehog up into the air before the hedgehog rightened and landed on the arm, running up and slamming a roundhouse kick into Eggman's glass dome of the mech. Sonic was launched backwards from the force of the kick as a noticeable crack had appeared in the glass. Tails flew over and grabbed Sonic's hands, landing him safely on the ground. "Good timing little buddy!" He said, getting ready for another attack. "Where were you and Carol anyways?"

"Getting you and Lilac these!" Tails said, tossing him the cyan gem. "This thing's got too strong armor! We're gonna need these!"

"Well, using a little Chaos Energy in order to do this, huh?" Sonic said, grinning. "Heh, fine by me!" Sonic said, charging into a Spindash. A blue light wrapped wrapped around the hedgehog before blasting off so fast, it was almost impossible to react. But Eggman saw and activated the shield, blocking Sonic's path. Sonic slammed into the shield at full force, increasing the spinning friction against the shield, but it did no more than leave a dent in the shield. Eggman smiled to himself; he had the hedgehog right where he wanted him! However, he never got the chance as soon Tails had stomped on top of the glass dome, creating an even bigger crack in the glass. Eggman was thrown off guard and let down his defenses, and soon Sonic came crashing past the shield and slammed into the glass dome, creating even bigger cracks. Eggman then blasted the two away before reacting faster than the two and firing off the mace like a cannon, aimed straight for the two. The mace arm then respawned its giant spiked ball, Sonic and Tails had almost no time to react...

"Leave them alone!" A voice yelled, young sounding. Sonic looked up to see a basset hound standing in front of the two. It was Milla! She took the phantom block she was holding above her head and expanded it in front of her, turning it into a gigantic thick green shield. Mere seconds away from impact of the mace ball, Milla activated her shield's offensive powers and activated a large blasting, short-ranged blast, knocking the gigantic mace back at Eggman's mech. Eggman nearly panicked and swung his mace arm of the mech right as the other mace ball came at him, slamming the oncoming mace ball into the ground, shattering it to pieces. Eggman looked angrily at the young hound...

* * *

Metal was having a rough experience as Carol grabbed Lilac and redirected a Dragon Boost straight into Metal's back. Metal slammed into the ground before rebounding and taking to the skies, combining his two hands into a gigantic energy laser cannon, pointed straight at the ground.

"I've... had ENOUGH OF THIS!" Metal yelled, charging the laser, aiming it straight at the dragon girl. "YOU BOTH WILL DIE!"

"Yeah right you bucket bolts!" Carol yelled. "You couldn't even hit a fly with a bomb!"

"Carol..." Lilac sweatdropped, before Metal fired the laser at the draconian. Lilac dodged to the side, the laser right on her tail as she dashed side to side, avoiding the laser by the skin of her teeth. But the laser let Metal become distracted with trying to kill Lilac, as soon Carol was able to sneak right up behind him and deliver a furious Wild Claw, scraping across the metallic skin of the bot.

"How about you try this on for size, bolt brain!" Carol yelled, soon delivering a slamming Wild Kick, careening Metal Sonic into the ground, sending him into shutdown mode, causing him to become immobile and unresponsive. "Heh, not so tough now, are ya?"

"Nice one Carol!" Lilac said, rushing back over to Carol. "How'd you know to do that?"

"I guess you could say I learned a couple things while going through the Dreadnought." Carol said, cracking her knuckles. "Hit a bot enough times, they'll go into sleep mode. He ain't bothering us for a while now."

"Well, at least that's one guy out of the way." Lilac said. "Now, time to take care of the oth-" She was cut off as a loud scream reverberated across the area. Lilac and Carol looked over to see Eggman's gigantic mech, it's hand tightly gripping tightly around Milla's body. The young basset was trying to squirm free, but Eggman's grip seemed to tighten even harder.

"L-let me go!" Milla cried, tears starting to stream down her cheeks.

"After your insubordination, you are not going free." Eggman said grimly. "You're coming back with me. I could use another assistant, and unlike these four, you will be sp-" Eggman's speech was never finished as soon a rock collided with the glass dome, shattering it completely. Eggman recovered from the shock to see the one who threw the rock; Lilac, an expression of rage across her face, clenching tightly to the Chaos Emerald. Eggman soon had a scowl across his face as his mech tossed Milla aside, having her crash into the side of a building, where Carol rushed over to check if the young hound was okay. Lilac had a deathly glare in her eyes as she stared down the mad doctor, now covered with a solid steel dome, the lavender gem in her hand starting to spark like mad. Lilac activated a Dragon Boost and blasted of forward at the mech, soon Eggman fired off several mace balls at Lilac, but Lilac kept dodging away from the shots and closed in fast, then bashed into the bottom of the mech with a Dragon Boost...

* * *

"Milla!" Carol cried worriedly as she rushed through the area, trying to find the young basset. "Milla!"

Carol soon heard a small moan, and she rushed over to the rubble pile as the young basset was crawling out of the rubble, bruised. "Oww... over here..."

"Oh, thank goodness your alive!" Carol said, pulling Milla out of the rubble pile. "A-are you okay?"

"I'm fine..." Milla said, coughing a bit as Sonic and Tails came over. "Just a couple of bruises, nothing serious..."

"Oh man, sorry about that," Sonic said, apologizing. "I wasn't meaning to get her hurt like that.."

"Sonic, it wasn't your fault." Carol said. "It-"

"NOBODY!" A voice shrieked from behind the four. Sonic, Tails, and Carol with Milla in her arms turned around to see an enraged Lilac, slamming into the underside of the Egg Wrecker, the mech unable to do anything as Lilac continued to smash into the underside of the mech, her rage building as the Chaos Emerald started to coat her in lavender lightning. Sonic and Tails eyes grew wide as they soon knew what was going to happen.

"HURTS!" Lilac screamed as her assaults continued on the Egg Wrecker. Sonic grabbed Carol's wrist and Tails follow suit, dodging behind a building.

"Whoawoawoa, what's the big idea?" Carol said, wrenching her wrist free of Sonic's grip. Sonic shook his head.

"You don't understand what's gonna happen with her getting consumed by all that Chaos Energy!" Sonic said, a hint of fear in his voice. "If she unleashes it now..."

"MILLA!" Lilac bellowed as an inhuman growl ripped through her throat as the Chaos Energy hit its peak. Eggman panicked and hit the eject button for his Egg-O-Matic, fleeing the area before the energy was released into a massive lavender explosion, the flames reaching into the sky from the intensity of the blast. The explosion lasted for a few good seconds before it died down. Sonic, Tails and Carol turned the corner of the building to see the draconian, fists clenched tightly, one gripping to the Chaos Emerald, breathing heavily, standing in a slight indented crater with molten scrap metal strewn around her. Her rage soon subsided as she collapsed to her knees, panting heavily for breath.

"Lilac!" Sonic said, rushing over to the draconian. "Hey, take it easy..."

"I'm...fine..." Lilac gasped through her sharp breaths. "I just... need to take... a breather..."

"What the hell was that she did?!" Carol said. "You didn't tell me she was gonna turn into an atom bomb with that thing!"

"A... bomb?" Lilac asked, before looking at the emerald in her hand. "This gem... did that?"

Sonic nodded. "You're lucky it didn't level the entire city..." Sonic said, before noticing the entire city's population had gathered around them. They all seemed to stare at them silently, before one person started clapping. Then another one started clapping; and one by one it turned into an entire celebration for the five heroes. Sonic smiled and flashed the crowd a thumbs-up.

"Well," Sonic said. "Wasn't expecting this kind of hospitality..."

* * *

"I must say, I am rather impressed with your quick work today, you two." The Magister commended Sonic and Tails. "The citizens of Shang Tu are very much indebted for your heroism today."

"Thank you, Magister," Tails said, bowing. "But we really couldn't have done it without Lilac. It was her bravery that allowed us to pull through with it."

"That reminds me," The Magister spoke. "What had exactly happened to cause that massive explosion?"

"Oh, that," Tails said. "Well, that was a direct result of a buildup of Chaos Energy inside of her. What happened to cause that giant explosion was a sudden violent release of energy within a fraction of a second. On our world this is known as a "Chaos Blast", but I'm exactly unsure as to how she unleashed it if the Chaos Emeralds were never here before..."

"Tails, you're forgetting one crucial thing about the emeralds." Sonic said. "The emerald's power are usually unleashed in response to large quantities of emotion. Remember hearing her rage when she was bashing the underside of Eggman's tin can? She seemed pretty pissed about Milla getting hurt."

"Yeah.." Tails said, pondering a bit. "Could you go check on her? I've got a couple things I need to check on."

Sonic nodded. "Sure thing." He said, before dashing off. "And with that, please allow me to excuse myself, Magister." Tails said, bowing before leaving the throne room. The Magister turned back to the balcony and looked out onto Shang Tu...

* * *

"Let's see.." The wildcat said, checking the engine compartment of Tails buggy. "There's gotta be some reason why his buggy's faster than my bike..." Carol continued to fiddle around with the engine compartment until she hit a panel in the side of the engine block and it opened up on a hinge. Sitting within the compartment was a green diamond. Carol's eyes lit up as she saw the gem.

"Aw yeah, score!" She said, grabbing the gem. "So THIS is how you've been powering that thing..."

"Uh, what are you doing?" A voice said behind the wildcat. Carol panicked and turned around, hiding the emerald behind her back, to see a very irritated Tails. "Can you care to explain now?"

"Um...uhh..." Carol stuttered, sweating bullets as she tried to hide the emerald behind her back. "N-nothing... I was just...uhh..."

"Carol.." Tails said. "What do you have behind your back?"

"N-nothing!" Carol stuttered, trying to hide the Chaos Emerald. It didn't work, as Tails noticed the empty compartment in the engine then immediately turned his attention to Carol his hand out. "Alright, hand it over."

Carol frowned. "Aw, dammit." She said, taking the green gem from behind her back and handing it to Tails. "Not my fault I'm the least bit curious how you're able to make that thing go fast."

"Well, breaking into my equipment is HARDLY what I believe to be curiosity." Tails said, putting the emerald back into the compartment of his buggy. "But, since you're interested, how about I check your bike? I could probably see what's wrong."

"Heh, I appreciate it!" Carol said, smirking. "Here, let me show you." Carol led Tails over to her bike and showed him the engine. "I've been trying a lot of my own tinkering but it hasn't been working."

"Let's see..." Tails said, checking the engine. "Well, here's your problem. Your engine's getting choked out since there's not enough air getting to the cylinders. Let's just take this out here..." He said, removing the engine from the bike. The two sat in silence until Carol spoke up.

"He's like a brother to you, isn't he?"

"Huh?" Tails asked, confused by Carol's question.

"Sonic," Carol said. "He's like a brother to you, isn't he?"

"Oh..." Tails said. "Yeah... I guess you could say that. The two of us have been friends for a couple years now. I've helped him out on a number of his adventures ever since we first met."

"Wow, so you've been through the same stuff he's been through?" Carol said. "Man, that just makes you even cooler!"

"Heh, well, I guess..." Tails said. "What about you and Lilac? You two seem to get along pretty well."

"Dang straight we do!" Carol said. "The two of us have been friends since we were originally part of the Red Scarves. We got to go on raids, participate in fighting tournaments," She said, before whispering to Tails,"I was undefeated, by the way." She continued. "We were making it big, until Spade crossed a line that me and Lilac don't tolerate."

"...well, what exactly is that?" Tails said.

"During one of our raids in Shang Tu, me and Lilac had hit a house, and found the residents in there dead, throats slit. And what was it slit with? Razor-sharp playing cards, Spade's specialty weapon. After we found out about that, Lilac and I decided that we weren't gonna associate ourselves with murderers. So, we abandoned the Scarves, and we've been living in Lilac's treehouse ever since, usually making our own raids on rich people's pilgrimages to the Kingdom Stone, well, before the events of last year..."

Tails just sat there in silence before Carol changed the subject. "Besides, Lilac's the only family I've got that I've had for a while."

Tails nodded. "Man..." He said, before turning his attention back to the engine and continued to work.

"Ya know, in a way, you kinda remind me of... me, actually." Carol said. "Knack for tinkering and all that."

"Heh, I learned about that on my own." Tails said, but thoughts were racing in the back of his mind. " _Wonder how Sonic is doing on checking up with Lilac..._ "

* * *

"Hey, Lilac?" Sonic called into the room. "You in here?"

"Oh... hey Sonic..." Lilac said, quietly, getting up from where she was sitting and walked over to him. "Sorry about the outburst earlier..."

"Hey, it's no problem." Sonic said, noticing the young basset hound sleeping on one of the other comfy pieces of furniture. "Is Milla okay?"

Lilac nodded. "She'll be fine. She just needs some rest." She said. "C'mon, have a seat."

Sonic walked over and took a seat next to the sleeping Milla, with Lilac sitting down next to him. Milla shifted a bit that her head was right up against Sonic's leg. Sonic moved his hand and softly rubbed the top of her head. Despite being asleep, Milla smiled from the nice feeling. "She's been through a lot, hasn't she?"

Lilac nodded. "Sonic.." She said, having the hedgehog turning to her. "Despite everything happening today... thank you."

"What're you thanking me for?" Sonic asked, petting the sleeping Milla. "You're the one that drove Eggman off."

"And nearly leveled a city block in the progress..." Lilac chuckled to herself. "And here I thought I'd do enough exploding stuff after last year.."

"Trust me, it ain't anything new for me." Sonic said. "Not to mention I didn't know you could use Chaos Blast."

"Chaos what?" Lilac asked, confused.

"Chaos Blast." Sonic said. "Whenever a large amount of Chaos Energy is built up inside the user along with an emotional outburst, the energy is then expelled in a near-uncontrollable explosion, nearly destroying everything in its wake." Lilac fell silent, looking down at the lavender gem in her hand. "We should be thankful it wasn't more than one Chaos Emerald, or the entire blast would have leveled the city." That didn't make Lilac feel any better, as she hung her head more. Sonic saw this and put his hand on her shoulder, prompting her to look up at him. "Hey, don't worry about it." Sonic said. "This type of thing happens when the Chaos Emerald acts in response to high stress. It's not your fault." Lilac looked at Sonic for a few seconds, then smiled softly.

"Thanks Sonic.." She said. The two sat in silence for a bit before Sonic spoke again.

"You really care about Milla.." he said, petting the sleeping basset hound's head. Lilac nodded.

"She's got a strong heart." Lilac said. "And a lot of bravery. I just worry about her safety..."

"Does that explain why you lost your cool when Eggman had grabbed her?" Sonic asked. Lilac froze at that question.

"No." Lilac replied bluntly and quickly, as if she wanted to drop the subject. Though Sonic didn't seem to get the message as he immediately followed up.

"Something happen that you have a violent tendency to protect her?" Sonic asked.

"I don't wanna talk about it." Lilac responded, looking away.

"Aw, c'mon, I-"

"No."

"I'm not gonna t-"

"I said no."

"Look, I pr-"

"DROP IT!" Lilac yelled at him. Sonic leaned back in shock from Lilac's sudden outburst. Lilac's expression changed from anger to regret as she looked back down at the floor. "Sorry.. that was a bit too much.."

"It's kinda my fault, I prodded an area that's sensitive." Sonic said, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry."

"It's not you, it's..." Lilac started, before sighing. Soon Milla started to stir before her eyes opened, looking around at her surroundings.

"L-Lilac?" Milla asked. "Wh-what's with the yelling?"

"I-it's nothing, Milla." Lilac said. "Sonic and I were just talking a bit..."

"Hey, Sonic? Lilac?" Tails voice echoed from the door. "We're just about ready to head to Mobius to round up the rest of the Chaos Emeralds. You guys having a moment?"

"We'll be ready Tails." Sonic said, petting the young Milla's head. "Just give us a bit..."


	4. Chapter 3: Mobius Bound

_**A VERY special thanks for MixedFan8643 for looking over this chapter.**_

 _ **...**_

 _ **Sonic and Lilac: Tides of Chaos  
Act 1**_

 _Chapter 3: Mobius Bound_

The propeller of the bi-plane whirred to life as the engine started up, ready for the heroes departure to Mobius. Carol smiled a bit as she got into the back seat of the plane itself. After all, who wouldn't be excited to visit an entire new world? After getting her motorcycle tied on securely, Carol buckled herself up and looked over the side of the plane's seat, looking out onto the streets of Shang Tu. She had to admit, she was gonna miss the place for a bit while on the new world, but she could barely contain her excitement for exploring as the next world of Mobius was literally within a flight's time away!

"I see you're already anxious to go." Tails said, packing some of his equipment into the lower storage containments of his plane. "I'm still surprised you managed to get your bike attached to here."

"Hey, when ya got a lot of rope, gotta make sure it's secured tightly." Carol said, leaning back in the seat. "Besides, there's no way I'm gonna be able to explore as fast without my bike, and you already helped me tune it up. It'd kinda suck not to bring it."

"I guess." Tails shrugged. "Sonic and Lilac should be here shortly. What would be taking them so long?"

"Eh, Lilac's probably just saying her goodbyes." Carol said. "It's not like we're just heading out of the city. We're going to another world! That's kind of a big deal, isn't it?"

"Well, it'll probably be the first time for you guys." Tails said, checking the gauges in the pilot's seat.

"That brings me a question." Carol said. "How exactly did you guys get here in a biplane if you're from another world? Don't you need rockets and stuff like that?"

"Well, that would be the case." Tails said. "If it weren't for the fact that Eggman's little stunt has our atmospheres overlapping. That's how Sonic and I were able to get here so easily."

"But wouldn't there be any sort of gravitational conflict?" Carol asked. "Why haven't our two worlds basically collided and become a gigantic rock sandwich?"

"They're just far apart enough to not have the gravity effect eachother." Tails said. We've only got the atmospheres overlapping right now. Any closer, it'd become that 'rock sandwich'."

Carol couldn't help but chuckle at her remark of the to planets colliding. She looked back up at the sky, where she could see the other planet nearby. " _Only a matter of time..._ "

"Hey, you brought a change of clothes, right?" Tails asked, snapping Carol out of her thoughts.

"Huh?" Carol asked.

"It's gonna be a lot warmer on Mobius than it is here right now. You brought a change of clothes, right?"

"Well, yeah..." Carol said. "What, is it like mid-summer for you guys or something?"

"Well, yeah." Tails said. "Don't want you to overheat while we're there."

Carol shrugged. "We'll be lucky if we GET there." She said. "Where's Lilac..."

* * *

"We wish you luck, dragonborn." The Magister said. "Neera and Gong should be able to handle the situations while you are on your leave."

Lilac nodded. "Thank you Magister." She said, bowing. "Please, take care."

The Magister nodded before Lilac left out the door, nodding to General Gong as he nodded back.

"You be careful out there." Gong said. "Who knows what's gonna be on an alien planet..."

"If it's anything like what Sonic says, I think Carol and I will be fine." Lilac said.

Gong shrugged. "I'm just sayin'. You know how Neera gets."

Lilac chuckled to herself. "Yeah, you got that right." She said, before walking off toward the plane. She didn't get far though, before she got glomped by Milla.

"Oh Lilac!" Milla said, nuzzling up on her draconian friend. "Please be careful out there! That bad man could really hurt you!"

"Milla, I'll be fine," Lilac said, picking Milla up off of her before setting her down on her feet. "but you realize why you aren't coming along, right?"

Milla nodded. "You said, my own safety. You don't wanna risk me being put in front of the bad man's way again."

Lilac nodded. "After that incident with Brevon, I can't risk having the same thing happening to you again. Keep yourself safe while Carol and I are gone."

Milla nodded. "I promise!" She said.

Lilac smiled a bit. "I'll see you later Milla." She said, before turning and heading off toward the plane.

* * *

"Well there you are," Carol said as Lilac ran up to the side of the plane. "Took you long enough. Where were you? Magister holding you up?"

"More like I was saying my goodbyes." Lilac said, stopping at the side of the plane. "Either way, everything's loaded up?"

Carol nodded. "Ol' Tailsy got everything loaded up while you were off saying you farewells. I'm guessing Milla's gonna hold down the fort while were gone?"

"More like keep herself safe here while we're gone." Lilac said, hopping up onto the side of the plane. "Need I remind you of what had happened last year."

"Aw, c'mon Lilac. I know you wanna protect her, but you can't be so strict." Carol said, looking back up at the sky.

"Since when I was being strict?" Lilac asked, confused by her friends' statements. "I'm just trying to keep her safe, that's all."

Carol shrugged. "Eh, I guess it's not really my business." She said. "Speaking of business, where's the blue guy?"

"What, you didn't notice I came back?" A voice spoke. Carol looked over to see Sonic lying on the wing of the plane, looking up at the sky, and almost immediately she felt embarrassed.

"Heh, whoops..." Carol said. "Didn't realize you got back here already..."

"Eh, it's okay." Sonic said. "So, you guys ready to head off for Mobius?"

"Oh heck yeah I'm ready!" Carol said. "This is gonna be awesome!"

"Uh, Sonic," Lilac said. "A-are you sure it's okay to ride on the wing of the plane?"

"Hey, I've done it before. Multiple times, actually." Sonic said, standing up. "It's not that hard once you get used to it."

"O...kay.." Lilac said, stepping up onto the wing. "I'm not very sure of this.."

"Trust me, you'll be fine." Sonic said, giving her a reassuring pat on the back. "It'll be easy."

"You guys ready to go?" Tails said, flying into the cockpit of the plane.

"I'm ready!" Carol said. "Let's get this on already! I wanna see this alien planet!"

"I hope you mean that loosely," Tails said, getting the plane started up. "If Mobians and Avalicians have similar anatomies to eachother, our planets should be very similar in terms of natural looks."

"Aw c'mon, don't spoil the surprise for me!" Carol whined. Tails rolled his eyes at this.

"Alright. Engine's running at full speed..." Tails said to himself as the plane soon jerked forward slightly. "Alright, off to Mobius!" And soon the plane took to the skies for Mobius...

* * *

 _Several hours later..._

The four had been silent ever since the departure, Carol sound asleep and snoring in the back seat, while Sonic stood on the wing, looking onward to the horizon and Lilac sitting with her legs dangling over the edge, her thoughts still racing with the events of what had happened within the past night. The arrival of Sonic and Tails, Eggman's assault on Shang Tu, her rage nearly blasting the city apart... It was a lot for her mind to take in. And with Eggman wanting to get after the Kingdom Stone's energy, she wasn't exactly feeling comfortable leaving Avalice open for attack. But if getting the Chaos Emeralds meant a safeguard just in case, then it would be a risk she would be willing to take.

"Hey, Lilac?" Sonic asked, snapping the draconian out of her thoughts. "You okay there?"

Lilac nodded. "Sorry, just thinking." She said, looking back out to over the horizon. "You guys deal with this on a near daily basis?"

"Pretty much." Sonic said, putting his hands behind his head. "Ol' Eggs-for-brains doesn't know when to quit."

Lilac shrugged. "You're sure it's a good idea for us to come?" She asked. "We're kinda leaving the Kingdom Stone's energy wide open for stealing."

"I'm certain Neera and General Gong can handle the situation while we're gone." Tails said. "Besides, Milla's there too. She's got psychic shielding properties I've never seen before!"

"But she's frail." Lilac said. "That's why I worry about her. She can get hurt easily if she gets too reckless."

"You sure about that?" Sonic asked. "She took getting thrown into a building by Eggman's mech rather well."

"Well, then Carol's been training her well." Lilac said, looking back to the sleeping wildcat. "She promised she'd train Milla to become stronger than she was during Brevon's raid last year. I'm just hoping it's paying off..."

"Alright guys, prepare for gravitational shift!" Tails said, putting his goggles down. "Once we get into Mobius' atmosphere, it's gravity is gonna pull you guys down off the wings if you don't hang on!"

"Pull us... down?" Lilac said, before the gravitational shift happened with no warning, and Lilac was pulled off the plane harshly and began falling at an alarming rate toward the ocean below. The draconian screamed in terror as she fell through the air, clamping her eyes shut tightly and waiting for the crash into the ground...

"Hold on Lilac!"Sonic yelled, launching himself off the wing of the plane towards the falling draconian. With quick dexterity, he reached out and grabbed Lilac before flipping around, the draconian in his arms, before Tails swooped down in the Tornado and caught the two on the wing of the plane. Lilac still had her eyes clamped shut until she realized she wasn't falling anymore, opening her eyes to see she was in the hedgehog's arms.

"Sorry about that Lilac.." Tails said. "I probably should have warned you guys earlier than that."

"No, it's fine." Lilac said, looking up at Sonic. "I guess it may have been necessary.."

"Uh... huh?" Carol groggily yawned, now waking up that the group was in the Mobian atmosphere. "What'd I miss?"

"Nothing." Tails said. "Well girls, welcome to Mobius!"

* * *

 _Windswept Valley, Mystic Ruins..._

The Tornado soon touched down at the runway strip at the top of the cliff. Sonic and Lilac hopped off the wing and soon Lilac's eyes lit up in amusement as she looked around the area. Large wooden windmills dotted the cliffs as a light breeze blew across the plains, making everything cool for a bit. Quite some time had passed while the four were on Avalice, as it was nighttime with the moon high in the sky, casting a glow across the entire terrain. Needless to say, Lilac was speechless as she looked across the area.

"Wow..." She breathed. "I never realized how beautiful your planet is..."

"Heh, yeah, not bad?" Sonic said. "Trust me, there's a place I want you to see that's really gonna catch your eye."

"Where's that?" Lilac asked, before Sonic took her hand in his.

"Just make sure you can keep up." He said, before dashing off, Lilac trailing right behind him.

"Sonic!" Tails yelled, but the two were out of his hearing range before he could call out to them. "Dammit Sonic, we're on a time schedule here..."

"Aw, don't worry about 'em," Carol said, untying her bike from the Tornado. "They can catch up later. So, where do we start looking for these gems?"

"Well, I just gotta recalibrate the scanner for Chaos Energy." Tails said, heading into his workshop. "Once that's done, we're gonna head out to Station Square and begin our search there."

Carol nodded. "I'm interested in seeing what your cities look like."

"Well, you're gonna have to wait a bit." Tails said as he went to work on modifying the scanner. Carol walked up and rested her arms on the table as she watched Tails work.

"So, how long do you think we got before ol' Baldy tries to make a move?" Carol asked, looking over at Tails work.

"More than likely it's not gonna be long before he tries to send out an attack against us." Tails said. "Which is why I'm not so keen on Sonic and Lilac running off like that. If they're off screwing around, we can't afford to waste any more time."

"Hm.." Carol sighed to herself. The two remained quiet for a bit before Carol spoke again.

"You ever think those two might be falling for eachother?" Carol asked.

"Huh?" Tails asked, a very confused look on his face. "What do you mean?"

"Sonic and Lilac." Carol answered, seemingly staring off into space. "I mean, think about it. Why would Sonic just grab Lilac and run off like that without paying heed to our current predicament? Doesn't that seem a LITTLE bit suspicious?"

"Carol, they only just met yesterday." Tails said. "I highly doubt they'd be falling for eachother already. It's more likely they're becoming friends because they have something to relate to."

"Going fast?" Carol asked. "That seems a little too simple for my tastes. You sure they aren't fallin' in love?"

"It'd be way to early for them." Tails said, noticing the sweat beads forming on Carol's forehead. "Uh, you wanna go change? You're sweating up a storm."

"Huh?" Carol asked, before feeling her forehead to find her fur damp. She then looked to see she was still wearing her winter clothing. A small blush crept up on her face. "Oh, heh. Guess I completely forgot about that. Give me a minute." With that, Carol left the workshop to grab her bag off the Tornado. "Hey, Tails, ya got anywhere that I can change?" She asked as she came back inside.

"There's a room just down the hall you can change in." Tails said, continuing work on the radar. "Go ahead and use that. I'll get you when we're ready to head out."

Carol smiled a bit. "Thanks Tails." She said, before heading down the nearby hallway to the room, a guest bedroom in case someone needed a stay for a while. Once she got inside the room, she locked the door behind her and proceeded to change out of her winter clothing. She just about finished changing when a sharp knocking was heard at the door.

"I'm almost done Tails!" Carols said, tying her signature red bandanna with a black pattern on the right side around her neck. With that, she now wore her classic outfit, consisting of her sleeveless black top that reached the top of her stomach, tied off with red cord clasps in the front and a similar wing design on the back, fingerless black gloves with a yellow and white arrow on the backs of them, topped with black cuffs with a yellow ribbon tied around each one. On her right arm was a sleeve that covered most of her arm from her wrist up, black in color and had a red flame pattern. Along with that, she wore black compression shorts under her green cargo shorts with two large black pockets, tied off with a yellow cord belt with a four-petal flower knot, and the same boots she wore before. She walked to the door and opened it, Tails waiting patiently behind it.

"Okay, let's go." Carol said, heading down the hallway and exiting the workshop. "So, where exactly are we heading first?"

"We're headed for Station Square." Tails said from behind her, converting his plane into buggy forme once again. "I've isolated the signal, and it seems to be coming from the heart of the city. We can get in there, get the emerald, and get back here with no problem."

Carol shrugged. "Eh, whatever. Let's just go grab that gem and get back to Avalice before ol' Nosehair decides to come play." With that, the two took off for Station Square, unaware of a familiar panda watching the two...

* * *

 _Green Hill Zone, nearing sunrise..._

"So, Sonic," Lilac said as the two sped through the rocky cave-like tunnels. "Where exactly are we going? Shouldn't we be looking for the emeralds?"

"We will in a bit." Sonic said. "But, you commented on how beautiful Mobius is, so I thought I'd show you the biggest view on the entire planet. At least, from what I know of." He said, leading the draconian through the caves. "We're getting close, just make sure you can keep up."

"Did you forget who I am?" Lilac said, before blasting off ahead of him. Sonic smirked at this and soon ran up the side of the wall, now running on the ceiling of the cave tunnel and catching up to Lilac.

"I'm sorry, did you forget who I am?" Sonic snarkily retorted, causing Lilac to look up and see him running on the ceiling. Lilac couldn't help but smile a bit at this.

"Oh, so you wanna play like that, huh?" Lilac said, a grin appearing on her face. "Oh you are SO on!" She said, the two racing through the caves at breakneck speeds hoping to beat the other to the mouth of the cave. However, it would soon turn into an accident as Sonic tripped up on the ceiling, causing him to fall and crash into Lilac, the two rolling in a heap until they eventually crashed through the mouth of the tunnel, rolling across the grass until they came to a stop, Sonic lying on top of Lilac. An embarrassed blush crept up onto their faces, Lilac's blushing more evident than Sonic's. Sonic got off of Lilac and helped the draconian girl up to her feet, the blush still evident on her face.

"Sorry about that." Sonic said. "Guess I got a little too cocky."

"I-it's okay.." Lilac said. "I'll walk it off. So... where are we?"

Sonic smiled a bit as the sun started to peak above the rocky walls of the canyon. "This is where I call home." He said. "Welcome... to Green Hill."

Lilac's eyes seemed to light up as she looked across the entire canyon, the sunrise starting to reflect the warm colors of morning off of the water, creating an orange and lavender hue across the entire canyon's surroundings. Sections of the taller grass slowly swayed in the light breeze as the flowers started to bloom in the morning, the light now shining onto the various wooden structures that dotted the Zone. Needless to say, Lilac was speechless as she looked across the area, her eyes sparkled in amazement from the sheer beauty of the area.

"Oh my god..." Lilac breathed. "I never thought I'd see... somewhere as amazing as this before... there's only a handful of locations like this on Avalice..."

"Heh, I guess you really like it, huh?" Sonic said, a small smirk on his face.

"Yeah..." Lilac said, nearly breathless at the sight, before turning to Sonic. "Mind if we take a look around?"

"Heh, don't need to ask me!" Sonic said. "Though, you might wanna take off that cloak before we head off. Don't wanna have you overheat while running around, now do we?"

"Oh come on now," Lilac said, untying the red knot on the front of her cloak before shedding it altogether, placing it onto an extended wooden wing of a nearby totem pole. "As if I would wear this in a mid-summer climate!"

"Well then," Sonic said, getting into a running position. "Ready to get smoked?"

"Oh, you are SO on!" Lilac said, getting into position next to him. "I'm an undefeated speed demon when I was originally part of the Scarves! And I'm a dragon, the fastest race on Avalice!"

"Heh, we'll see about that!" Sonic said, leaning forward. "Ready?"

Lilac grinned. "Ready as ever!"

"On your mark..."

"Get set..."

"GO!" The two yelled simultaneously, then dashed off for a race through the tropical hills...

* * *

 _Station Square, sunrise..._

"Damn, you never told me it was some sort of futuristic cyber world!" Carol exclaimed, looking onward at the entire sprawling metropolis before the two. Large buildings sprawled out in front of them, the sun shining off of the glass near the tops of the higher buildings of the skyline. Many energy roads crissed-crossed between the buildings, a massive amount of people and Mobians alike walking the sidewalks and large amounts of businesses across the sidewalks, and many electronic billboards showing advertisement for many various products that were part of Mobian lifestyle. Needless to say, Carol was speechless at the entire sight. "Even Shang Mu's got nothing on this place!"

"Well, I'm not exactly sure how developed the technology is on your planet," Tails said, checking the radar. "But Mobius has been known for some rather massive technology developments within the past couple of years. Heck, even before that! Over fifty years ago the planet had a space colony established in the orbit of our planet!"

"An entire colony?!" Carol gasped, looking at Tails with an extremely shocked look on her face. "If it weren't for the fact I'm seeing a future society right in front of my face, I woulda called you crazy!"

"Heh." Tails chuckled to himself. "I guess you could say your society could learn a thing or two from us."

"No kiddin'," Carol said. "Where do we even begin looking for a gem in a city nearly three times as big as Shang Mu?"

"It shouldn't be too hard with the radar." Tails said, typing something into said radar. "Just make sure you don't do anything that could get G.U.N. on our tails for it."

"G.U.N.?" Carol asked. "Who're those?"

"Military task force." Tails said. "Basically, they're the enforcement for the entire city."

"Hmph, sounds like the Shang Tu police force on steroids." Carol remarked. "Either way, enough talk. Where's the gem?"

"Working on it." Tails said, before the radar pinpointed a blip on the radar. "Looks like it's in the commercial district of the city."

"Well then," Carol grinned, revving the engine on her bike. "I bet I can beat ya there."

Tails looked at her with a mixed expression of 'are you serious' and 'don't even think about it'. "Carol, we need to be serious now. I don't want to be the one having to do all the work here while everyone else is out screwing around."

"Aw c'mon Tails, don't be such a buzzkill." Carol smirked. "Ya gotta live a little, ya know?"

"I can live a little when our worlds are not about to be taken over by a fat madman bent on turning everything into a robot." Tails said, shifting his buggy into gear. "Let's go." With that, Tails drove the buggy off, Carol right behind him on her bike...

* * *

 _Station Square, commercial district..._

After about an hour of travel, soon the two had ended up in the heart of the commercial district of Station Square. Tails pulled the buggy over to the side of the road, near a line of shops. Carol followed suit and parked her bike right next to Tails buggy, and soon the two were out on the streets looking for the gemstone.

"So, how close are we?" Carol asked. "It shouldn't be too far now, right?"

"It's just nearby." Tails said, checking the radar. "Just a little closer..." Carol then noticed a blue gem sitting in the window of a jewelry shop, noticing the shape being the same as a Chaos Emerald. A spark connected in her mind and she ran into the shop, getting her crystal shards out. Tails didn't notice the wildcat run into the store, continuing to try and pinpoint the location of the gem. He didn't notice the white panda figure that had snuck up behind him and soon knocked him unconscious, causing him to drop the radar to the ground as the figure grabbed him and took off down an alley.

Meanwhile, Carol had entered into the shop and immediately walked over to the emerald in the window jewelry case. Looking over the gem, she flagged down the store owner and had him come over to her.

"Yeah, I'm interested in buying this gem here." Carol said, pointing to the large blue gem sitting in the display case. "How much are ya offerin' for it?"

"Miss, that emerald is over seven thousand rings." The store owner said. "Are you sure you want to purchase that?"

"Well, kinda need it for a special gift for a friend." Carol said, getting the gem shards out of her pocket. "I think this should be enough payment for this." She winked, handing them to the owner. "That's gotta be worth at least seven thousand of these 'ring' things."

"Miss, please," The owner said. "I do not think I can accept this kind of payment."

"Trust me," Carol said, taking the gem from the display case. "Those shards are worth much more than this gem." With that, she left the store and a baffled store owner.

"Alright, that should be one gem down." Carol grinned to herself as she held the sapphire gem in her hand. "Only however many more there are left to find." Carol felt proud with being able to secure the first emerald of her group, but those good feelings went away and were replaced with panic as she soon found Tails' radar lying on the ground, with no sight of the young kitsune around. Wasting no time, she scooped up the radar in her hands and immediately tried to contact Sonic and Lilac...

* * *

 _Green Hill..._

The two had finished up their race and had just passed the signpost sticking out of the ground, Lilac severely lagging behind Sonic. Lilac skidded to a stop and started panting, taking in the fresh air of the area. Sonic skidded to a stop, looking like he was barely winded as he smirked at the draconian.

"Heh, outta breath after that?" Sonic said. "What happened to being the fastest of Avalice?"

"Eh, just..." Lilac breathed. "Never tried that hard to race someone..."

"Heh, guess I'm just that good." Sonic said. "Of course, you weren't that bad yourself."

"I still managed to pass you back at the shuttle loop back there," Lilac huffed. "Then you just come out of nowhere and blast ahead like nobody's business."

"Heh, I still won in the end, so I don't know what you're complaining about." Sonic said, taking a rest under one of the shaded palm trees. "C'mon, take a seat."

The draconian girl walked over and took a seat next to the hedgehog. "I really appreciate everything you've been able to do to help out my friends and all of Avalice.."

"Hey, it's no problem." Sonic said. "After all, he's my enemy attacking your world, it'd only make sense for me to help out. Besides, it has it's benefits.."

"Benefits?" Lilac asked, before feeling a hand on her shoulder. "Wh-what do you mean by that?"

"Being able to meet new friends and allies, and helping out anyone in trouble." Sonic said. "Besides, I think it's cool to finally meet someone as fast as me!"

Lilac smiled a bit. "I know how that feels." She said, looking out at the rocky canyon walls with the waterfalls. "Dragons are known to be the fastest on Avalice, but... I've never really knew any other dragons aside from my parents. Carol's usually able to keep up with me on her bike, but other than that, I haven't really met someone I can relate to."

"Heh, it's almost like we're meant for eachother." Sonic said. Lilac nodded in agreement. "Yeah..." She breathed. The two eyes locked, emerald-jade meeting amethyst-lavender. Lilac's cheeks flushed red as the two looked at eachother, the situation growing more intimate by the second. The two remained in silence until Sonic's communicator watch started buzzing, snapping the two out of their dream-like trance. Sonic hit the receive button on his watch transceiver to show the video of a panicking Carol.

"Sonic! Lilac!" Carol said frantically. "We've got trouble!"

"Carol, calm down." Lilac said. "What happened?"

"Well, while you two were off doing whatever it is you're doing right now, Tails and I were busy trying to track down the emeralds!" She said. "I found one in a jewelry shop here in Station Square, but Tails and I split off before that and I lost all sight of him! I only just found the radar lying on the ground and tried to contact you guys about this!"

"Tails is gone?!" Sonic said.

Carol nodded. "And look what I found right nearby." She said, flashing up an ace of spades card from a playing deck. "Looks like ol' Spade ain't done with us yet."

Lilac nodded. "Just stay where you are! We'll be on our way!" Carol nodded before the transmission cut off. Sonic and Lilac got up from their spot and rushed out of Green Hill Zone, heading off to Station Square...

* * *

"About damn time you two got here!" Carol said, tapping a foot impatiently as the two ran up. "Any longer, I would've gone off myself to look for him."

"And what would have that accomplished?" Lilac said, putting a hand on her hip. "Getting you lost or potentially caught by Spade."

"Well, we gotta do something now, otherwise Tailsy is gonna get a card to his throat." Carol said. "Let's make sure that doesn't happen."

Sonic nodded. "So, where do we begin looking? Station Square's a big place." Soon after that a card struck the ground in the middle of the three, and Lilac caught a glimpse of the instigator near the top of a building; none other than the criminal panda himself. Spade took off away from the edge of the building, but the three were soon to follow after him, with Carol making a slight detour to get her bike, leading to a chase across the building rooftops. Spade leapt and wave-dashed across a large gap in the buildings, but Lilac wasn't deterred as she leapt up and performed a Dragon Boost across the gap, her feet catching on the other side and continuing her sprint after the panda. Sonic leapt and performed an Air Boost, breaking the sound barrier and launching himself forward and landing on the other side, continuing pursuit with Lilac. Carol growled to herself and stopped the bike a foot away from the edge. The gap was far too large for her to launch across on her bike. She turned and went to find another route to catch up...

"Spade, stop!" Lilac yelled, gaining fast on the panda. Spade spoke no words, but instead brandished several sharp playing cards and flung them back in a flurry, aimed straight at Lilac. Lilac bobbed and weaved out of the way of the cards, but the last one slashed the side of her cheek open. The dragon girl cringed as the fresh blood started to leak down the side of her face, but she remained undettered in her pursuit of catching Spade. The chase across the rooftops became more dangerous as the chase went into the entertainment district, the section known as the Spring Yard Zone. Bounding off of several springs and several other bumpers, Lilac and Sonic were losing ground fast as Spade rushed ahead, but soon that lead had been cut short as Carol blasted from around the corner, slamming into Spade and knocking him sideways across the ground. While Spade was down, Lilac quickly grabbed him and pinned him against one of the marble pillars holding up a structure.

"Alright, time to fess up right now!" Lilac said, staring angrily at Spade. "Where's Tails?"

"What, the little kitsune freak?" Spade growled. "Sorry, he's not going anywhere until I get back what's mine!"

"What's yours?" Carol said. "That's funny, you know that? As if the Chaos Emerald belongs to you!"

"Oh really?" Spade growled. "I don't see you two claiming responsibility for it!" His eyes narrowed as he looked at Lilac. "Especially after your little emotional outbreak that nearly leveled Shang Tu!"

Lilac's expression turned to shock. "Wait, how did yo-" was all that she said before taking a sharp knee to the gut, knocking the wind out of her before delivering a sharp kick to the side of her head, knocking her unconscious on the ground. Carol immediately retorted and grabbed onto Spade from the back, wrapping one arm around his head and slamming her fist into his cranium with the other. Spade flailed around frantically, trying to throw the wildcat off, until he eventually he slammed her into another wall, knocking her off. Carol got back up and unleashed a flurry of kicks, but Spade blocked the flurry before grabbing Carol's leg and flipping her over him, slamming the wildcat into the ground before pinning her arms behind her back.

"Hmph! You still have a lot to learn." Spade said, tightening his grip on the wildcat. "Maybe if you two didn't desert the Scarves, you'd be a lot better than you are now."

"That's a bald-faced lie and you know it!" Carol growled, struggling to break free. "If we hadn't deserted, we would have all been dead last year!"

"Shut up!" Spade growled, pressing Carol harder into the ground. "I hope you realize there's only a few short steps I need to take to break both of your arms right now, so for your sake you better shut your mouth right now!" Spade was soon thrown off guard as Sonic slammed into the panda's side and knocked him off, and soon it became a hand-to-hand fight between the two as Carol rushed over to the unconscious draconian, trying to wake her up.

"Lilac! C'mon, wake up!" Carol said, shaking her draconian friend. Lilac stirred then sat up, holding her head in pain.

"Oww..." Lilac groaned, getting up. "Alright, you're gonna pay for that Spade!" She growled, letting loose a Dragon Boost and slamming the panda away from Sonic and into the side of a wall. Pinning him against the wall, the panda tried to wrench his wrists free of the draconian's grip before Sonic walked up, an angry look in his eyes.

"You know, I don't exactly like repeating myself here." Sonic said, cracking his knuckles. "So, I'm gonna make this short. Tell us where Tails is."

"And what if I don't?" Spade growled. Sonic brought down a fist hard next to Spade's face.

"I don't think you wanna know!" Sonic said, looking even angrier. "Now tell us where he is. Now."

The two stared angrily at eachother for a few solid minutes until Spade had finally cracked, not from pressure, but from boredom. "Fine!" He yelled. "I'll show you where the damn kid is, okay?!"

A small cocky grin appeared on the hedgehog's face. "Now then, was that so hard?"

"Nrrgh, shut up!" Spade growled, walking away. The other three soon followed, keeping a close eye on him...

* * *

Spade led the three to a locked door of a building on the other side of the entertainment district, unlocking the door when the other three got there. Needless to say, he wasn't too pleased with what he was having to do.

"He's in there." Spade growled, opening the door. "Just go get him and come back out."

Sonic nodded before going into the building to get Tails. Carol smirked a bit at Spade's annoyed expression.

"What's the matter Spadey?" Carol teased. "Mad that Sonic got the better of ya?"

"Says the one who had trouble at the tournament before her desertment." Spade said, crossing his arms, hiding the smug grin on his face.

"Well, says the one who got whopped last year when Milla and I broke in." Carol retorted, a large grin on her face. "You should have seen the look of your face when you got trashed! It was priceless!"

"Yeah, just as priceless as your face when you took that knee to your stomach from the tournament!" Spade chuckled to himself. "You, know, it'd be nice to see you two back in the Scarves..."

"As if," Lilac answered sternly. "Spade, you know we're not coming back after what happened the year we deserted. I don't associate myself with murderers, and neither does Carol."

"Yeah, 'sides, we've got reputations to uphold after stopping Brevon." Carol said, thumbing her nose. "Don't wanna throw it away by goin' back to thieving."

Spade rolled his eyes. "As always, gotta be the heroes of the group." He said. "Can't learn to have a little fun every once in a while."

"We prefer it if it isn't something illegal now." Lilac said, shooting the panda a glare. By that point, Sonic had come out of the building with Tails.

"You're not hurt, are ya little buddy?" Sonic asked as the two walked back over to the Avalicians. Tails shook his head.

"I'm fine Sonic," Tails said. "Just stop worrying for a bit." Soon the two had rejoined with the other three in the discussion.

"So, what's the verdict on our panda 'friend'?" Sonic said, crossing his arms.

"Spade's gonna be comin' with us." Carol said. "Figure he might as well help out while he's here. He ain't gettin' back without us."

Tails nodded. "Well, either way, we've still got another Chaos Emerald to track down. We better find it before any sort of Eggman's robots do."

Carol nodded. "So, where are we going now?"

"We're heading back to the Mystic Ruins." Tails said, starting the long walk back towards the commercial district. "Once we're there, we can try scanning the area for the emerald. I have a feeling a certain echidna might have ahold of it though..."

"Eh, no problem, I can talk some sense into Knucklehead." Sonic said, shrugging.

"Well, let's go." Lilac said. "We don't have time to waste..."

* * *

 _Mystic Ruins..._

"Alright, I'm getting a reading up on the other emerald.." Tails said from the cockpit of the Tornado. "We should be close. Looks like it IS on Angel Island."

"Well, this shouldn't be too hard." Sonic said. "Just gotta talk to the knucklehead and get it back from him. Should be easy."

Tails shook his head. "I hope so..."

"So, this 'Angel Island'?" Carol asked from the back seat. "What makes this island different from all the other islands?"

"Oh, you'll see." Tails said, checking back to the radar. "In fact, it's coming right up now."

"Coming up...?" Lilac asked, before gasping in awe at the sight ahead; a massive floating island, tipped with snow-capped mountains and to the brim with jungles and desert, even a giant carnival! Needless to say, the Avalicians were shocked at the massive sight in front of them.

"Damn, a gigantic floating island?!" Carol said. "Why does your world have all the cool stuff?"

"Well Carol, I doubt their world was graced by dragons like Avalice." Lilac said. "So we have something cool that they don't have."

"Eh, I guess." Spade said, resting on the back of the plane. "Just get the gem already and let's call it a day."

Sonic rolled his eyes at Spade's comment. "All business with you, isn't it?"

"When I've basically got an entire syndicate of highly trained assassins that I need to run when the big boss is out, so we need to get back before the entire place goes to hell without any leadership." Spade said, crossing his arms. "Otherwise, she's gonna have a hell of a time keeping everything in line."

"Then again, Spade, it IS her you're talking about." Lilac retorted. "Remember, she PERSONALLY excluded herself from the fighting tournaments purely for a fact that no one else in the Scarves would have a chance."

Spade rolled his eyes. "You say this as if we don't know this." He remarked.

"Whatever, can we get back to the task at hand here?" Carol said. "We've got a gem to find!"

Tails had touched the plane down on the side of the island in a clearing. "Alright, let's go see Knuckles.."

* * *

 _Hidden Palace, Angel Island..._

Crystals and lime-marble columns adourned the walls as the ancient ruined palace rested within the gigantic volcano, away from the stored lava around it. At the center apex of the palace with the large light shining down from above sat a central floating pedestal with a large emerald stone emplanted into it, with seven other pillars surrounding it. Needless to say, Lilac and Carol were speechless when they had entered the area, Spade merely rolling his eyes at the girls gawking.

"Oh my god..." Lilac breathed. "This looks like the Relic Maze back on Avalice..."

"Wow..." Carol's eyes lit up. "Look at all these crystals! This place must be worth a fortune!" She ran over to one of the walls and tried to pry a crystal out. "C'mon Lilac, give me a hand and help me get this thing out!"

"Carol!" Lilac squealed, pulling the wildcat away from the wall. "Don't do that! We're here as GUESTS on another world, we don't need to get into any trouble while we're here!"

Spade merely shook his head and chuckled. "You really haven't changed at all, have you?"

"Lilac, you mentioned something about this place being like the Relic Maze back on Avalice?" Sonic asked.

Lilac nodded. "The Relic Maze was the original housing for the Kingdom Stone. It's location was deep underground in order to prevent thieves attempting to steal it."

"Heh, funny you say that." Sonic said. "This place houses something similar. Hidden Palace is the resting place of the Master Emerald, the only force powerful enough to neutralize the Chaos Emeralds."

"Wait," Carol said. "If this thing's powerful enough to knock out the Chaos Emeralds, why didn't Eggy try to steal this thing instead of yanking our world here?"

Sonic shrugged. "Eggman has some weird choices he makes. Maybe he just decided, 'Screw it, I'm not dealing with that boneheaded echidna again' and just pulled your world here." He smirked. "Not that I'm complaining."

"Oh hell no, not me either!" Carol exclaimed, a wide grin on her face. "It's been awesome meeting you guys! Even with everything, I've had so much fun with travelling and butt-kicking with both of you!" She said, before pulling Tails into a one-arm hug. "And this kid has got to be the COOLEST kid I've ever met! I can finally have someone to relate to in terms of being a badass!"

"Uh, heheh..." Tails chuckled. "So, Sonic, I'm assuming you're gonna talk to Knuckles about the gem?"

Sonic nodded. "You guys wait here. I'll be back." He said, walking ahead.

Underneath the giant floating pedestal sat a red echidna with dreadlocks, with large gloved hands with spikes on his knuckles, and red and yellow shoes with green socks and a set of purple-tinted goggles around his neck. This was, appropriately enough, Knuckles the Echidna, guardian of the Master Emerald and the last of his race. He was peacefully resting until he heard footsteps approaching from the entrance to the chamber. Quickly he got to his feet and got into a defensive position, ready to face whatever might be coming into the sanctuary. He sighed in relief when it was only Sonic and a couple of others.

"Hey, Knux!" Sonic said. "Long time no see! So, keeping the Master Emerald under wraps?"

"I guess you could say that." The echidna replied. "So either way, who're your new friends walkin' around?" He said, noticing the Avalicians walking around the Zone.

"Oh, a couple of allies that got caught up in Eggman's big mess he's created." Sonic said. "Either way, we really need that Chaos Emerald you've been holding onto. We're gonna need it for storming Egghead's base."

"Sure thing," Knuckles said, walking over to one of the surrounding pedestals. He opened up the side of the pedestal, a giant clear diamond resting on top of it, and pulled out a yellow Chaos Emerald. "Been having to keep this thing under tight wraps since the Time Attack incident."

"Hey, I appreciate it." Sonic said, taking the gem. "So, you've got everything covered here?"

Knuckles nodded. "Egghead's not getting at the emerald this time around."

Sonic smiled at this. "Alright, you take care then!" He said, running off. "C'mon guys, let's go! We've got it now!"

* * *

"Well, that's the last of the gems!" Carol said from the back of the Tornado, now flying back to Avalician atmosphere. "Now it's time to crack ol Eggy wide open!"

"Well... that might be the case." Tails said checking his radar. "Looks like the last Chaos Emerald is already in Eggman's possesion. A raid on his space station might be in order in order to get it."

"Hey, if it means a large order of clobbering for a certain fatman, I'd be more than glad to be part of a raid!" Sonic said. "So, how are we gonna go about this?"

"First of all, we're going back to Shang Mu." Spade spoke coldly.

"Aw what's the matter?" Sonic said. "Don't wanna join in on the fun?"

"As much as it would be fun for some wanton destruction, I've got important business to attend to." Spade said. "I don't want to repeat myself about why I need to get back."

"Eh, your loss pal." Sonic shrugged. "How close are we Tails?"

"We're closing in shortly." Tails said. "Now, we'll get back to Shang Tu, and then we can get to raiding his station. It's still incomplete, so we still have time bef-"

"It's looking a lot more complete now!" Lilac said, pointing at the large space station. Everyone turned to see that now the station was looking much more complete than when they had left. Needless to say, the group was shocked.

"I-I didn't think we were gone that long!" Tails said, frantically typing something into the radar. "N-no! We were only gone the same amount of time that we were on Mobius!"

"There's only one way that he's been able to build something that fast." Sonic said, clenching his fists. "And I don't think you guys are gonna like it."

Lilac stared in disbelief. "No... he's got the energy..."

Sonic nodded. "Looks like we're gonna have to get going now!" He said, turning to Tails. "Tails, take us up there!"

Tails nodded and prepared for ascension to the station, but soon a blast hit the direct underside of the plane, striking the engine core and causing the Tornado to become unresponsive.

"Shoot!" Tails yelled. "That blast took out the engine!"

"Oh no..." Carol whined to herself as another upward blast hit the plane. "This isn't gonna end well..."

Soon after that a final blast hit the plane and the Tornado exploded, separating the group. Lilac, Sonic and Spade were launched off toward Jade Creek while Tails and Carol fell towards Dragon Valley...

They had no idea what was in store for them once they regained consciousness...

* * *

 **Uh oh... Looks like Eggman got busy while our heroes were out getting the remaining emeralds. But Neera and Gong should have had the situation covered, right? What had happened while Sonic and the others were getting the emeralds? Where are Neera and Gong? And what about Milla? Find out next chapter as we see what had happened with the other Avalicians while Sonic and Lilac were away in _"Avalice Overrun"_...**


	5. Chapter 4: Avalice Overrun

**_..._**

 ** _Sonic and Lilac: Tides of Chaos  
Act 1_**

 _Chapter 4: Avalice Overrun_

* * *

The young basset _smiled_ to herself as she saw the red biplane with her friends take off for the nearby world. Admittedly, she was a little heartbroken that she wasn't allowed to go with them, but she understood as to why she wasn't allowed. Lilac was paranoid abut the incidents that happened last year, especially after what had happened to the young basset when she was captured, and when push came to shove, Milla had no chance. So, perhaps this was better...

 _"Good luck guys..."_ Milla thought to herself as she walked back to the palace. Things were still on tight guard since Eggman's unpredictable landing, but everything was settling back to normal. Metal was still nowhere to be found after the battle, and that had raised enough concerns for the Magister to send out a couple armed forces to search out the entire area for the bolted poser.

 _"Things have been so crazy lately..."_ Milla thought to herself. _"Maybe things can settle down now..."_

"Ah, Milla!" A voice spoke from behind the basset hound, causing her to jump in shock. She looked behind her so see General Gong standing at attention. "Sorry 'bout that. Didn't mean to spook ya."

"I-It's okay.." Milla stammered. "So, what's going on? A-am I needed right now?"

"Well, sorta." Gong said. "The Magister sent out Neera to Shuigang in order to check up on Dail. He wanted me to go and check out Brevon's scrapped base back near Jade Creek in case this egg-guy decides to go check that place out and tries to find anything. He wants you to come with me just in case anything happens."

"Oh, I don't know..." Milla said nervously, a mild blush on her face. "Lilac's gonna get pretty upset if I get hurt..."

"Don't worry!" Gong said. "I can guarantee that you'll be safe while we go check this out!"

"Well..." Milla muttered to herself, before making up her mind. "Ok... we'll go! I-I mean... I'll go."

"Well, that's the answer I like to hear!" General Gong said, picking up the girl and setting her on his back. "Now then, we'll need to get moving." And so the two went off to the outskirts of Jade Creek...

* * *

 _Death Egg..._

"Well then, despite that setback of that lizard, everything is running along smoothly now!" Eggman said to himself as he viewed the construction. "Once we get every last bit of that energy, construction will speed up significantly!"

"And what will we do with that energy, Doctor?" Orbot asked. "There may be some leftovers once it's used to speed up construction."

"Oh, don't think I haven't thought of that!" Eggman said, typing something into the console. "The troops will be ready shortly for a takeover of the planet! Once this entire world has become my new base of operations, Mobius will tremble in fear under my rule!"

"But sir, doncha think those lil' varmits are gonna try 'n intervene?" Cubot said. "Seems like at's all they do now!"

"Much like how your voice chip interefers with my sanity?" Eggman growled. "Either way, a signal has been picked up to the south of where we first landed and those... PESTS interfered. Bots will be sent out to investigate, as well as myself for monitoring the operation at hand. Meanwhile, more elite soldier bots will head out and capture that emerald-colored city to the west and the crimson-colored city to the east. Metal will head with the group to the west to deal with them. Once all three cities are captured and their leaders detained, all three cities will be roboticized and turned into the ultimate base of operations."

"Sir! We're picking up a signal in the atmosphere between the two planets!" Orbot said. "It appears Sonic and his friends have left the area and headed back to Mobius right now."

"Well then, this works out massively in my favor!" Eggman exclaimed. "Send the troops now! The cities will be caught by dawn!"

* * *

 _Shuigang, sunrise hours..._

"...it's been far too long since I've been here..." Neera said, looking ahead to the emerald-shaded palace of her before shaking her head. "But I cannot allow my past interfere with my duties."

Slowly, she walked up to the palace entrance, walking past the guards and into the main hall. She kept her silence to herself until she reached the chambers for the king, where she discussed why she was here in the first place.

"Very well," the one guard said, before opening the large doors to the chambers, adourned with jade columns scaled like the very dragons that came to Avalice. The large open windows showed of the surrounding mountain ranges, with large lavender drapes adorned at intervals. Near the back of the room was a large throne with a desk in front of it, containing various papers, along with a quill in an ink well. Sitting in the throne was a young panda, slightly older than Neera, adorned in green robes and writing something down on one of the papers on the desk, letting out a heavy sign. This was Prince... er, King Dail, the heir to the Shuigang throne after the events of last year and the death of the original king, his father. He had just finished writing down something when he heard the footsteps coming from Neera, looking up to see said panda approaching. He smiled a bit as he saw her walking up.

"Ah, Neera!" Dail said warmly. "It's been quite some time."

"Too much in my opinion." Neera said, kneeling in front of the desk. "But the Magister has sent me here on business terms. I'm almost certain word has spread of the attack in Shang Tu today."

"Ah yes, the 'attack of the near-Brevon impostor'." Dail chuckled to himself. "I got a good chuckle out of that from the headline. Either way, what does this have to do with me?"

"I've been sent for retrieving a status update, you could say." Neera responded. "The large concern was of what had happened last year after Brevon targeted here and... well, you know.." She continued, looking away with a small blush that had crept up on her face. "Either way, Shuigang needs to be prepared in case something like last year happens again."

"Well, Shuigang has already made renovations to its defenses, as well as a reinforced floor this time." Dail said. "Still a little bit embarrassed as to how Brevon was able to get through the floor so easily."

"In honesty, I doubt anyone was expecting that." Neera said. "But enough about dwelling in the past, what's the current status of the recovery here?"

"Recovery and reinforcing has made steady progress," Dail spoke, crossing his arms. "We've still had a couple of issues where Brevon's leftovers have made their way in, but they were disposed of quickly."

Neera nodded. "Ready the airships for safe measure, we ne-"

"I apologize for my late entrance, good Dail!" A voice said from behind the two. Neera turned to see a short red panda scurrying his way up to the two, wearing red robes and a hat with golden trim. This was Mayor Zao of Shang Mu, the short-statured and short-tempered eccentric leader of the crimson kingdom, and is famous throughout the entire kingdom for it. "It's rather hard to get here on such short notice!"

"I can accept you lateness right now, Zao, we have important matters we need to discuss either way." Dail said. "I assume you've heard the news?"

"When something like that goes down, how can you NOT hear about it?" Zao said. "Yeesh, it's enough of a wake-up call to make my fur crawl!"

 **+5 FEAR**

"I seriously have to ask how you're able to do that.." Neera muttered to herself, before Dail continued.

"The I'm assuming you're taking the precautionary measures for helping defend the kingdoms?" Dail asked.

"Of course I would! What, do you think I would be THAT idiotic to not have my kingdom defended?!" Zao remarked angrily. "I know better to defend my territory after that 'Braven' fellow's attempt on wrecking the city with your airships!"

Dail rolled his eyes at this remark. "And yet you forget that I was controlled by him last year..."

"I full know well that you were under his control, but it's still inexcusable for the damages last year!" Zao exclaimed.

"Look, the point is, we need to be prepared." Neera spoke. "We can't afford t-" At that moment a blast had struck the side of the palace, knocking the three sideways. Neera got up to see none other than giant fish-shaped airships floating outside above the mountain range, designs that none of the kingdoms had of theirs. Only one thought loomed in her mind: it was that madman again. Shortly after, several robots had landed into the room, some wielding lances and others wielding blasters. Standing at the front of the group was none other than the robotic doppleganger of Sonic. Neera gritted her teeth at the sight and charged forward, only to be backhanded across the face and knocked to the ground, a noticeable bruise across the side of her face. Neera winced in pain as the metallic figure grabbed her by the throat and held her up, scanning her before flinging her backwards into a large animal capsule, the capsule sealing up and locking up from the outside. Metal turned his attention back to the two leaders.

"Now then..." Metal's cold voice grated. "Let's discuss the finer points of foreign policy, shall we?"

* * *

 _Ruined Base, Jade Creek outskirts..._

After forever of trying to get some of the malfunctioning doors to work, Milla just decided to blast apart each door with her shield burster. Gong and Milla had been searching through the abandoned wreck of Brevon's base, and while most of the technology and power was semi-intact, it was still in pretty bad shape and the entire base was risking collapse by the second, not to mention the fact of gigantic lava spills in the entire base. The young basset took her steps easily, knowing that one crucial misstep could cost her more than just singed fur. After getting deeper into the base, the two came across a large door inside the inner shell of the entire complex.

"Well then, how do ya suppose we get through this?" Gong asked. "Looks like that doors gotta be extremely solid."

"Here, let me try this..." Milla said forming an energy cube in her hand. "If I can get my energy up more..." She said, turning back to the door. Focusing the energy in front of her into a large block-like shield in front of her, she closed her eyes and focused her energy into the large shield. Soon, the shield turned from a jade green to a topaz-like orange, aimed straight at the door. She inhaled, held her breath and activated the shield burster, blasting the door open before the young basset fell to her knees, panting heavily. Gong walked over and put the young basset hound on his back before carrying on deeper. Soon the two came across what looked like an abandoned room with a large metal table and a machine strapped to the wall. Milla's eyes widened in terror when she realized where they were.

"This... this was where we found Lilac last year after she broke in!" Milla gasped.

"Oh, so this is that chamber?" Gong asked. "Eh, I guess it wouldn't be as big a surprise that you'd be scared of here."

Milla nodded, shuddering as Gong investigated the surrounding area. "Looks like this place hasn't seen anyone touch it since you guys blew it to pieces."

"I-it was terrible here..." Milla stuttered. "So many of Brevon's baddies had attacked us here..."

"Well, looks like most of them are scrapped already, so we can just go about our business of checking thi-" Gong was interupted as metal footsteps were heard coming towards them. Milla panicked and dashed behind a large overturned sheet of metal, shuddering while trying to keep herself quiet while Gong hid behind a large computer console. Soon a number of robots, not of Brevon's design, walked into the room, some staying near the entrance to guard it while others investigated the surrounding room. Shortly after that, Eggman, in his mech-walker, had entered into the room.

"Well then, this is most surprising.." Eggman muttered to himself as he investigated the room. "This room is rather immaculate compared to the rest of this scrap dump!" He continued to look around before finding several bodies of replica robots near the large computer console. The doctor smiled to himself as he investigated the robot.

"Oh ho! What do we have here?" Eggman chuckled to himself, looking over the robot's control system. "Well then, let's see here. Robot coding was always at the top of my list..." Eggman said, messing with some of the robot's wiring. Soon the robot sparked to life, a small, barely audible whirrling sound came for the robot as it started lifting off the ground. Eggman backed up a bit as he smirked at his handiwork of the robot as it soon activated, a ghastly green glow from it's large dome and it's single, unblinking, robotic eye, with its two jade tentacles hanging from it below. It was the first to speak after its activation.

"Greetings new user." The robot spoke in its monotonic female voice. "Please input new user data into system." At that moment a small output receiver for a USB drive came out and pointed at Eggman. Eggman cautiously pulled a USB drive out of his pocket and plugged it into the robot, it scanning the data on the drive before the entire drive was scanned. "New user data accepted. Welcome, Dr. Robotnik."

Eggman smiled to himself as he stared at the robot. "Now then, a recap. State your name."

"T2-812; SE42 Meta Gear 'Snatcher' model. Codename: Syntax." The robot spoke. "And I am here to serve you and dispose of Chasers Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles Prower the Kitsune."

"Correct." Eggman said. "Though I don't know why you referred to those two as 'Chasers', but I think I'll let that one slide. However, I should have three other targets loaded into your system."

"Scans read positive. Additional targets loaded up from previous user. Targets are Sash Lilac the Dragon, Carol Tea the Wildcat, and" The robot spoke, before one of its tentacles extended and ripped the sheet metal away, revealing the basset hound curled into a fetal position, eyes wide and pupils dilated from her reveal as she stared at the entire group in front of her. "...Milla Basset the Hound."

Milla froze in fear as nearly the entirity of Eggman's troops that he had brought with him, and now a new Syntax had just been revived right then and there...

...and they were all staring straight at her.

Milla felt her heart stop. Her internal fear hit a critical peak and she was breathing quickly as the new Syntax neared her. She started shaking uncontrollably as the robot neared her, clamping her eyes shut and waiting for the inevitable to come. But that never came as soon General Gong had appeared and shield-bashed Syntax away from Milla.

"Get going kid!" Gong yelled, raising his shield in front of him as the pawns tarted to open fire. "Get the hell out of this place!"

"But, but General..." Milla whined, before Gong glanced at her.

"That's an order kid!" Gong yelled. Milla nodded quickly and ran out of there on all fours, Eggman chasing after her. Gong soon turned his attention back to the entire group in front of him. "I am not trapped in a facility full of robots... YOU are all trapped in here with ME!"

* * *

Milla's heart was racing as she raced through the corridors of the ruined base. Eggman was gaining hot on her heels and even her Phantom Blocks weren't able to phase the mad doctor from his pursuit. She was panicking full-blown hysteria inside of her and she was about to break down before she spotted her only escape route: a large tubing of lava on the right with the cold waters of Jade Creek on the other side of a glass window, just opposite of the lava tubing. Quickly, Milla summoned a Phantom Block in each hand and, as soon as she was in the center of the two objects, had fired off both in two small shield bursts at the casings. The young basset felt like her body was being crushed, but the shield bursts did their job. The pipe and the window shattered, the lava and water colliding to forming a solid rock wall behind Milla as she escaped.

Eggma slammed his fists into the console of his walker as he saw the basset fleeing. "Damnit! The little snot-nosed brat!" He growled before Syntax and what was left of his troops arrived, Syntax's tentacles detaining General Gong.

"It appears the basset has gotten away." Syntax remarked. "No matter. This instigator has been detained."

Eggman gritted his teeth. "Very well. Bring him to base. He and that other panda will make fine additions to my army..."

* * *

Milla burst out of the water, her lungs gasping for air as she washed up on the shoreline of the lake. She laid there, eyes clamped shut and lungs nearly bursting as she laid there, soaked, bruised and exhausted. Milla looked up in time to see the large spaceship lifting out of the water and blasted off towards the Death Egg. The young basset hound's heart dropped when she saw the ship speeding away.

"No, GENERAL!" The young basset shrieked as the spaceship flew off. Tears filled her eyes as her hopes for Gong's survival went down. She sat there on the bank of the river, sobbing as the spaceship drew further and further away from the planet's surface...

* * *

 _Death Egg, Outer Atmospheres..._

"Well then, despite the fact that we had an unwanted pest, everything should be running smoothly." Eggman muttered to himself as he walked across one of the upper corridors, Syntax floating right behind him.

"Extraction of the Kingdom Stone energy should be almost ready." Syntax spoke. "Roboticization progress of the three kingdoms are as follows: Shang Mu: 40%; Shang Tu: 23%; and Shuigang: 17%. Process time until completion of robticization and terraforming: 3 days, 23 hours, 38 minutes. Once all kingdoms have reached full roboticization, control over Avalice will be complete."

Eggman grinned to himself. "Excellent. Everything appears to be going to plan, albeit a bit behind schedule..." He remarked. "However, once this Kingdom Stone's energy is collected, construction will increase significantly and soon, I shall rule both these worlds!"

"Doctor." Syntax spoke. "Would it not be fair to check in on the insubordinates?"

"Which ones?" Eggman asked. "We have five of them captured, three of which appear to be the leaders of these respective 'kingdoms'."

"Both subjects in question are pandas." Syntax said, bringing up the data files on Neera-Li and Gong. "One of which was responsible for destroying a legion of your robotic followers after my activation... and the other being responsible for attempted assault on one of your top robotic generals of the empire."

"Ah, yes... them." Eggman said. "I have special plans for those two..."

Eggman and Syntax soon entered into another room to see the two pandas restrained, Neera fiercely struggling to try and break free of the restraints, whereas General Gong merely stayed still, keeping his breathing calm. Eggman smirked as he approached the two.

"Ah, attempting to attack the one who wants to obtain power from your world. Hardly any effort was put in if it was this easy to pull off!" Eggman chuckled to himself as he observed the two struggle...well, one of the two anyways.

"I don't care what you say, you are NOT getting away with this!" Neera growled, still squirming to break free of the restraints. "I will personally make sure you rot in jail for what you've done!"

"What, kidnapping?" Eggman laughed. "Please, I've kidnapped five full planets before. It's not like this is anything different for me now!"

"You're insane, you know that!" Gong said. "The girls will beat you down like they did with Brevon!"

"Oh ho! That is where you're wrong!" Eggman said, typing something into the keyboard. "They're not even going to get close to me, now that I have you two!"

"Why us?" Neera growled. "As if you think we are going to help a mere slime ball like the bastard you are!"

"Ah, you silly, silly panda, I never said you were going to be _willing_ to help me." The doctor chuckled. Neera's eyes widened.

"What the hell do you mea-" She said before an electric blast hit both Neera and Gong screamed in pain. Soon their bodies began to change as their normal fur and clothing were being replaced with sharp metal, the blood being transfused to oil, and their own will being stripped away with the process of Eggman's actions. Soon, the scream of agony had died and Eggman shut off the machine, stopping the process now that it was fully complete. The restraints were soon deactivated and the two dropped to the floor, landing on their feet. Neera and Gong no longer had their free will...they had now become pawns in Eggman's game for world domination.

"Master Robotnik..." The now robotic Neera spoke, bowing in front of the doctor. "How may we serve you?" Eggman smiled to himself as he observed his handiwork of roboticization process. He was ready to unleash his two new creations onto the new roboticized Avalice... if it wasn't for a new beeping coming from the console. Eggman hit something on the console and a message from Metal Sonic came up.

"What is it Metal?"

"Energy extraction is complete." Metal spoke coldly. "It will arrive shortly and then construction will increase tenfold for the Death Egg."

"Excellent!" Eggman said. "Now, head back for Shang Mu and watch over the roboticization process! Make sure that we do not have any sort of rebelllion going on within those walls until everything is converted! And keep that recovered emerald guarded! After retrieving them from the other location, we don't want that meddlesome pin cushion getting his grubby little hands on it!"

Metal nodded. "Accepted. End transmission." The transmission shut off and he turned to the new robotic Neera and Gong. "Now as for you two. The large one shall head back to Shang Tu and guard the emerald there. Make sure those brats get nowhere there. And another thing: make sure those roboticizer generators are properly implemented into the foundation." Metal Gong gave a hearty salute before leaving the room. "And you head off for Shuigang and defend THAT emerald AND keep." Metal Neera nodded silently before leaving the room. Eggman smiled to himself as he watched his work. He had the furballs right where he wanted them! Everything would be going smoothly...

* * *

The young basset eventually stopped shuddering and looked up at the sky. Several streaks of light seemed to dash off into multiple directions towards the three kingdoms. Milla got up to her feet and looked off at the distance.

"Wh-what was that?" Milla muttered to herself, before noticing the biplane above Dragon Valley. "Oh, hey! Lilac and the others!" She said, taking off on all fours toward the plane above. Her heart soon sank as she saw the plane get hit by several missiles and explode in mid-air, several specks falling towards the planet's surface. Milla took off on all fours as fast as she could towards the two specks falling towards Dragon Valley...

* * *

"I can't believe this ridiculous outrage in detaining me!" Mayor Zao angrily growled from pacing back and forth in his cell aboard the prison hold in the Death Egg. "This man just thinks he can interrupt my personal business with discussing to the other kingdoms and hold me as a mere prisoner aboard this death trap!"

 **+5 OUTRAGE**

"Patience can be a virtue, Zao." The Magister spoke from his cell. "Rest assured that the dragonborn and her friends will be on their way to get us out any time now."

"How are you even sure that they will be coming?!" Zao angrily said. "They may be taking too long and our entire world and all of our kingdoms will become SCRAP HEAPS by the time they get here!"

"Zao, take it easy." Dail said from another cell. "I have faith that Lilac and her friends are able to get through to here quickly. In the meantime, we should all try to consider as to how we're going to deal with this situation once they've broken us out."

"I say we blast them out of the sky with our battalions!" Zao said.

"Zao, you seem to forget that this entire space station is situated outside of out atmosphere." The Magister remarked. "None of our battalions are suited enough for space fighting."

 _"Attention! All troops prepare for the prisoner movement!"_ Eggman said over the loud intercom. _"Make aware of our prisoners being moved to the right locations!"_

"Well, so much for the discussion plan..." Dail muttered to himself as a couple of Egg Pawns came to the cells...

* * *

 **Well, looks like the bad doc got pretty busy while Sonic and Lilac were away! And now we see what had happened to Neera and Gong, with Milla still surviving. But with Eggman kicking his new plan into full gear, and our heroes being _literally_ shot out of the sky, things are looking grim. Will the heroes be able to reunite in time before Eggman gets his grip around Avalice tightly sealed? Or is Eggman actually going to succeed in his lifelong dream of conquering an entire planet with no one to stop him? Join us next time for the beginning of Act 2 and _"Heroes on the Run"_...**


	6. Chapter 5: Heroes on The Run

**...**

 _ **Sonic and Lilac: Tides of Chaos  
Act 2**_

 _Chapter 5: Heroes on The Run_

"..."

"..aro.."

The wildcat's head was pounding as she struggled to regain consciousness, trying to move her body against the pain. She faintly heard someone calling her name...

"CAROL!"

Carol's eyes shot wide open only to quickly shield them again from the bright sun overhead. She soon felt arms wrap around her and pull her into a tight embrace, and from the creamy white fur and vibrant orange hair, she could only recognize it as Milla.

"Oh, Carol, thank goodness you're alive!" Milla said, her green eyes filled with tears. "I thought you... you..."

"Hey, hey, take it easy Ruff stuff!" Carol said, flinching from the slight pain. "You know me! Cat's got nine lives, am I right?" Milla nodded slowly, the tears in her eyes not going away. "Now then, what exactly happened here? I don't think any of us were expecting to get blasted out of the sky for our return!"

"Oh... oh, it's terrible!" Milla sobbed, burying her head into Carol's shoulder. "Th-the bad man came back! He revived that mean squid bot Brevon used last year and he took Gong with him!"

Carol's eyes widened. "Wait, you mean he's revived his own Syntax?" She gasped. "That means we've got big trouble! Where are the others?!"

"I-I don't know!" Milla cried, sobbing into the wildcat's shoulder. "Neera didn't come back from Shuigang and there's robots spreading out all over the place!"

Carol gritted her teeth. "Then Eggs-for-brains must've gotten the Stone's energy while we were gone. C'mon!" She said, grabbing the basset hound's arm. "We gotta find Sonic and the others before they're turned into that guy's brainless minions!"

"C-Carol!" Milla squealed, being dragged off by the wildcat to look for the kitsune...

* * *

"Oww..." Tails groaned, sitting up from where he had landed. He was surrounded by large amounts of snow-covered vegetation and waterfalls, with a couple of pagodas adourning the path every now and again. He slowly got to his feet, taking care as to not set off a headache from the crash.

"Where... where am I?" Tails muttered to himself as he looked around the area, before he noticed a wreckage near the water's edge. He ran over to it to discover it was part of the Tornado, with Carol's bike tied to it. Tails panicked at the sight. Where were Carol and the others? Were they okay? Tails wanted to get answers himself, so he untied the bike from the back of the plane and tried to start it up.

"Come on.." Tails growled to himself as he tried to get the bike started. He soon heard footsteps behind him, and he quickly turned around to the source only to be pulled into a tight hug from Carol.

"Oh Tails, thank god you're alive!" Carol breathed. "I thought you bit the dust after that explosion!"

Tails clutched to the wildcat. "I'm.. I'm alright. And I'm relieved you are too." Tails breathed. "Where's Sonic and the others? Are they alright?"

Carol shook her head. "No clue. Milla only woke me up about a bit ago. But whatever is goin' on, it's got Eggy's fat face written all over it."

"Eggman attacked while we were gone?!" Tails said. Milla nodded.

"H-he took General Gong a-and started spreading his robots across the kingdoms!" Milla said, tears in her eyes.

Tails gritted his teeth. "If Gong was taken, then we can already make guesses that Neera has most likely failed as well." He said, getting the yellow Chaos Emerald out of the back of the scrapped Tornado.

"Then that means we have no time to waste at all!" Carol cried. "We've gotta find Sonic and Lilac before Eggman's robots get to them and kill them!"

"Agreed." Tails said. "Get yourselves ready, we're finding them."

Carol nodded, getting her bike revved up as Milla hopped onto the back of the bike. "Which way did they fall Milla?"

"F-from that explosion, it looked like there were other specks falling towards Jade Creek." Milla said. "If we're looking for Lilac and Mr. blue, they may be over there!"

"Then I'll lead the way!" Carol said. "Let's get moving!" She said, before the three took off for Jade Creek...

* * *

 _Jade Creek..._

"We've gotta be getting close!" Tails said, checking his radar. "I'm picking up a reading of Chaos Energy nearby!"

Carol nodded. "Well then let's make sure they're okay!" She said. "If that goof hurts Lilac, I'll personally make sure he pays for it!"

Tails nodded in agreement. Eggman had gone too far now, and if he wasn't stopped within what little time they had left, Avalice would be done for. Carol had similar thoughts, but hers were more angrily geared toward Eggman for what he did.

"G-guys!" Milla cried, pointing ahead. "T-t-trouble!" The two looked forward to see a group of robots and what looked to be the other scrapped end of the Tornado. His heart dropped when he saw what looked to be an unconscious Sonic, Lilac, and Spade in a block of ice, a robotic Neera-Li standing nearby.

"Oh shoot!" Tails said, shoving Carol and Milla into the nearby bushes, causing Carol to slam on the brakes to the bike and cause it to skid. "Get down! If they find us, we're toast!"

The robotic Neera motionlessly looked over to where Tails and Carol had originally been. After not seeing anything suspicious, she turned back to the frozen group. "Rather fortunate of us to find you lot unconscious out here." Neera's robotic voice spoke. "Master Robotnik will be rather pleased with your captures. And with procuring two more emeralds from your pathetic group will count as an even greater victory. Now then, Gong?"

"Yes Neera?" The robotic Gong spoke, thundering his way up to the other robot panda.

"Take these insects and lock them up in the dungeon in Neo ScrapBrain, and lock up that Chaos Emerald as well." Neera said, holding the green Chaos Emerald. "I will return to Neo Metropolis and lock up my respective emerald. Do NOT let those vermin escape until Master Robotnik decided what to do with them."

Gong nodded before turning to the other robots. "You heard her! Get these prisoners moving!" The robots scrambled and moved, getting the giant ice block containing the three and moving out, while Neera flew off in a different direction. At that point, the trio had come out of their hiding places in the bushes, and needless to say, Carol was furious.

"Those no good...lousy...!" Carol growled, the anger clearly shown in her eyes. "Those traitors!"

"Carol, calm down!" Milla panicked. "Please, I'm sure they're only having to do this to survive! Please, don't judge them like this!"

"Milla's right," Tails said darkly. "but not in the way she thinks. Neera and Gong don't have control over their own bodies right now from what Eggman did."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Milla asked.

"Roboticization." Tails said. "The way Eggman deals with those he captures who resist him. It makes them lose their free will and serve him in what he does. That's the reason why Neera and Gong are working with Eggman. Eggman's got them under his control, and from the looks of it, he's not giving them up anytime soon."

"So, it's not their fault?" Carol asked.

Tails nodded. "Eggman's more than likely gonna have Sonic and the other roboticized too, so we're gonna need to move fast."

"B-but where could they have gone?" Milla asked. "We don't know where this, this 'Neo ScrapBrain' or Megalopolis place is! By the time we try to find it, it could be too late!"

"I think we might know where they've gone." Tails said, checking his radar. "And I have a feeling we're revisiting places where we've been."

Carol nodded. "I think I know what you mean."

Milla looked between the two, her face flushed red. "Wh-what does that mean?"

Carol looked to Milla. "We're going back to Shang Tu." She said, cracking her knuckles. "It's time for a jailbreak..."

* * *

 _Neo ScrapBrain Zone, lower dungeons..._

The hedgehog's head was pounding as he regained consciousness. Slowly, he sat up, shaking his head to get rid of the pain.

"Oww..." He moaned. "Anyone get the number of that missile that hit us?"

"Ugghhhh..." Lilac groaned, holding her head in pain as she kneeled up from where she was lying. "So much pain..."

"Lilac, you okay?" Sonic asked, getting over to Lilac.

"I-I'll be fine.." Lilac said, holding her head. "I-I just need to get over the shock..."

"Speaking of shock, where are we?" Sonic said, looking around the area, which appeared to have stone walls on all sides except for the entrance, which had iron bars at the entrance. Lilac's eyes widened at the sight.

"No..." Lilac breathed. "We're... we're in the Shang Tu prison hold..."

"Prison?" Sonic asked. "Now why would they do that?"

"To keep us out of the picture." A voice said from the corner. Sonic and Lilac looked over to see Spade sitting on a barrel. "And they took the damn emeralds too."

"Wait, who's 'they'?" Sonic asked, before hearing heavy clanking coming from the entrance to the cell. The hedgehog turned to see none other than a posse of robots, along with a robotic General Gong. Lilac gasped in shock at the sight.

"Well then, I see you brats are nice and cozy in your hold." The robotic Gong spoke. "Keep yourselves rested up, you'll need it once Master Robotnik deals with you."

"Gong, why are you doing this?!" Lilac yelled, grabbing the bars of the cell. "Are you out of your mind?!"

The robot merely smashed his fists into the draconian's hands, causing her to shriek in pain and back away from the bars, holding her hands in pain. "Keep your dirty hands off the expensive robotics. Otherwise the good doc will have to change that." The robotic Gong said, turning away. "Once the doc takes care of you three, he'll find the other three insubordinates and 'take care' of them too."

"Gong, you can't do this!" Lilac yelled. "What about Neera? What about the Magister?!"

"Neera's on my side," Gong spoke. "And that old coot has long been locked up." With that, the robotic Gong plodded off with the other robots, leaving a distraught Lilac, gripping at the ground in anger.

"Now..." She said. "How could Gong do this?!"

"Lilac, he's not himself," Sonic said. "He's been roboticized."

"Robotawhat?" Lilac asked.

"He's been turned into a robot." Sonic said. "Stripped of his free will."

"So..." Spade spoke. "Imprisoned by a bunch of tin cans. Pretty pathetic way to go out if ya ask me."

"Hey, we're not gonna rot in a jail cell this entire time!" Sonic said, clamping one of his fists into his other hand. "We've got a planet to save, and a certain egg-shaped cranium to get scrambled."

Lilac nodded. "We're pulling through with this, and we're breaking out of this place."

Spade rolled his eyes. "And here I thought you'd be miss mopey this entire time."

"So then, how are we gonna get out of here?" Sonic said. "Those bars have gotta be at least a couple inches thick."

"It's made out of the strongest forged steel on Avalice. It'll be impossible to cut through those bars." Lilac said. "If we're getting out of here, it's through a wall."

"Heh, good luck with that..." Spade said.

* * *

 _Neo ScrapBrain, outer walls..._

"Oh my god..." Milla breathed, gazing upon the entire metallic fortress that was once the beautiful Shang Tu. Heavy construction blasted away at what was once the beautiful sapphire kingdom as several buildings were being knocked down as other pieces of electronics transformed the ground into metal and several other cranes lifted large pieces of metal structures into place, and several of the citizens being rounded up by Eggman's troops for transfer to Shang Mu. Several of the blue buildings that were already roboticized while the takeover happened were already dingy and dark blue, large black smoke pouring into the sky. Needless to say, Milla felt like her heart was shattered at the entire sight. "Why... why does he have to do this?!"

"So, this is what he does on your world?" Carol asked, looking onward at the city in progress of being roboticized, a small bit of anger burning in her heart as she clenched her fists.

Tails grimly nodded. "Unfortunately, yes." He said. "Eggman's more than likely got the entire place on lockdown during his construction, just to make sure that some people like us don't get in."

"Well, too bad for him." Carol said, extending her claws. "That fatso's just gonna have to deal with us breaking in and getting those guys out."

Tails nodded. "You two know your way around this place better than I do." He said. "Where would Sonic and Lilac be held up?"

"Well, I'm not sure if this place has the same layout as Shang Tu... Eggman's already seemed to wreck the natural land here with his terraforming..." Carol said. "But if I had to guess, they're being held up under the entire city within the prison dungeons that run underneath the city. That was where Lilac and I were held up when we were falsely accused by Neera."

"W-wait! I know how we can get into there!" Milla spoke up, causing Tails and Carol to look at her. "Carol, remember when you and Lilac sent me out through that hole to find a way out?"

"Well, yeah, but why?" Carol asked.

"I remember where that let out!" Milla said. "We can sneak into the underground through there, and once we're inside, I could track down their scent!"

"Milla, that's brilliant!" Carol said. "Lead the way girl!"

"It let out over here!" Milla said, taking off with the two close behind her, making sure not to get caught by any of the surrounding spotlights or Egg Pawns...

* * *

"I must say... this is a rather interesting design under here." Tails said as the trio progressed through the underground passages and pipelines. "An entire aqueduct underneath the entire city?"

"I know, right?" Milla asked. "These aqueducts were underneath Shang Tu the entire time, possibly for many years! I even fought a giant anglerfish down here!"

"Must've been quite an escape plan." Tails said. "How close are we?"

"We're close, I can feel it." Milla said, taking off ahead before stopping under a large vertical shaft with a green gelatin-like block under it. "Right here!" She squealed. "This is where I came down!"

"Looks like we'll get in from here.." Tails said, whirling his tails up into a low hover off the ground. "Let's get up there." With that, the trio managed to climb up until they hit dirt in the ceiling.

"I'll dig it out!" Milla said, grabbing onto the dirt ceiling and started pawing at it, digging away at the surface of the dirt. Small flecks of it flew into her face as she dug away at the dirt floor (well, ceiling). "Just a bit more..." Soon after that large dirt chunks started falling and soon the entire dirt ceiling caved in, nearly falling on top of the trio had they not ducked into a nearby alcove. After the dirt had stopped falling, Carol flashed Milla a thumbs up.

"Nice one Ruff stuff!" Carol said, smiling. "Now c'mon! We gotta find the guys!" Milla nodded, scampering up the stone wall until the three reached the cell that the hole led to. Carol tested the cell entrance and, to their luck, it was unlocked.

"Alright Milla, sniff 'em out!" Carol said. Milla nodded, and her nose started twitching. She got down on all fours and sniffed the ground before taking off, bounding down the halls, with Carol and Tails following right behind her.

"They're close..." Milla said, the scent getting stronger. Soon she stopped, nose pointing straight at the cell, her tail whipping right behind her. "They're over here!"

"Milla!" Lilac cried as she ran and Sonic ran to the front of the cell. "Thank goodness you're safe! How'd you find us here?"

"We saw you guys frozen back at Jade Creek!" Milla said. "Neera said where you'd be and we snuck in here! We're gonna get you guys out!"

"Well, you guys are gonna need to find the key for the cell." Sonic said. "These bars are way too thick to cut through, and the walls are too reinforced."

Milla nodded. "Got it, we'll find the key and get you guys out of there!" She said, before taking off.

"There you are Milla!" Tails said, running up to the basset hound. "We couldn't find you after you took off like that!"

"I found the others!" Milla said. "We gotta find the key to their cell if we wanna get them out!"

Carol nodded. "Then let's find that key!" She said, scampering up a wall. "I'll check up high around here! You guys find where the office might be!"

Tails nodded, and the three split off to locate the missing key...

* * *

"Alright, let's see here..." Carol said to herself as she picked the lock to a strongbox with one of her claws. "At least I'm thankful I can do this with locks this small. I'd probably rip my claw out of my hand if I tried this with that cell." A small click came from the box, and a smile grew on her face as she opened up the box to find a number of confiscated Red Scarves weapons and crystal shards. "Well, not exactly what I was looking for, but these'll help!" She said, grabbing the shurikens and crystal shards and stuffing them into her gem shard pocket. A light metal clank came from nearby, and Carol turned to see a few Egg Pawns staring her down. Carol fled from the strongbox and the Egg Pawns gave chase firing off a couple of warning shots, nearly grazing her as she ducked around a corner then jumped up to a hanging pathway, extending her claws and sticking into the ceiling to hide.

"Alright you buckets of bolts..." Carol growled, waiting for the Egg Pawns until they were right above her. Once they were there, she dropped down, digging her claws into the robots and ripping them to shreds with her claws. Once the robots were no longer moving, she retracted her claws.

"Heh, not so high and mighty now." Carol spat. "Alright, now where's that key..." She muttered to herself as she leapt back up to the ceiling and started crawling along it. "Maybe Tails and Milla are having better luck than I am.."

Meanwhile, Milla was rummaging through a couple of storage crates in the breaker room, with little luck at finding any keys.

"Oh man..." Milla muttered to herself. "Where's that key?" She heard what sounded like metal footsteps coming from behind her, and panicked before hiding behind large crate. She held her breath as some Egg Pawns walked into the room, and started to move other crates. She though her heart stopped as one of the robots spoke.

"Hey," The one Egg Pawn said. "Has someone been in these crates already?"

"There shouldn't have been." The other said, walking over to the first. "These were just shipped in today and sent straight to here. No one should have been able to get in here."

"Wait, what's this?" The first one said, noticing a white furry lump sticking out from behind the crate. Milla tensed up as the Egg Pawn investigated, before a sharp tug yanked on her tail. She let out a loud yelp of pain before covering her hands over her mouth, her heart racing at the loud sound she made as the robots grew suspicious. The robot grabbed her tail again and pulled hard, pulling her out of her hiding spot and left her hanging by her tail, her eyes wide with fear as she stared at the inverted robot, shaking in fear at her discovery.

"Well well, what do we have here?" The Egg Pawn said, bringing Milla's eyes to its level. "Looks like a little tramp running around, poking her nose where it doesn't belong!"

"Well, what should we do? Throw her into the cell with those other three?" The other asked. The first one nodded.

"The general's gonna have a field day with her when he finds out she was here!" The first one said. The two robots were so distracted with their discussion about their credit for catching the young hound, they didn't notice the small Phantom Block in her hand before she quickly expanded it into the gigantic thick shield and activated the Super Shield Burst, blasting both robots backwards before fleeing out of the room.

"That didn't go right..." Milla muttered to herself. "Please tell me Tails or Carol are doing better, please..."

On the other side of the prison hold, Tails was busily checking through the main office area, searching through the desk, several cabinets and various boxes for the key to the cell. He was just about ready to give up his search when something caught his eye, which looked like a panel on the wall. Curious, he took a crowbar from inside the office and pried the panel off the wall, showing a long line of breakers with numbers on them.

"Ah, these must be the power supply to the cells." Tails said to himself. "Let's see... here's the cell!" Tails said, pulling a spark plug out of one of the sockets. "This should deactivate the alarms for the cell. The key's gotta be closeby too..." He said, checking a nearby storage locker. "Ah, and here's the keys too!" He grabbed the key ring and scurried out of the office, making his way back to the cell where Sonic and Lilac were locked up. He was in luck: Carol and Milla had met up outside of the cell.

"Tails, you had any luck?" Carol asked. "Milla and I turned up empty."

Tails nodded. "I got the keys. Now let's get the guys outta here!" He said, inserting the key into the cell and unlocking it. Sonic smiled as the cell unlocked.

"Aw hell yeah!" Sonic said, bursting through the door to the cell. "Finally free of that cramped space!"

"Lilac!" Milla cried, both her and Carol running up and hugging the water dragon. "Thank goodness you're alive! Y-you're not hurt are you?"

"I'm fine, just a bit cold." Lilac said, a slight shudder in her body. "Thanks for gettin' us out girls."

"Hmph, not like I could have just contacted the Scarves to break us out." Spade muttered. "Either way, let's get out of this dump."

Sonic nodded. "Where should we go Lilac?"

"We'll head for my treehouse." The draconian responded. "We can formulate a plan of attack from there."

Sonic smirked a bit. "Heh, okay then!" He said, cracking his knuckles. "Let's get a move on then!" And so the six took off out of the dungeon, unaware of the security camera that caught sight of their breakout...

* * *

 _Jade Creek..._

"Woohoo!" Sonic yelled, leaping between giant bamboo stalks as the six fled south of Neo ScrapBrain Zone. "Now this is more like it! Running free and far with none of those robos in sight!"

"I wouldn't get too cocky now Sonic!" Lilac called, running across the cliff face near him. "I have no doubt that Gong will find out that we're long gone by the time he sends one of his bots to check in on us! We've gotta get far from Shang Tu as fast as possible!"

"Heh, did you forget who we are?" Sonic said, a cocky grin on his face. "As if he'll catch us!"

Lilac smiled a bit. She admired Sonic's attitude a bit with how he's been so optimistic through everything. "Right, we're headed for my treehouse!" She said, keeping her pace. "Once we regroup, we can work out a plan of attack from there!" Soon a blast resounded from behind the two, and Lilac glanced back to see what looked like a gigantic robot, insect in nature, on a single giant wheel, chasing after the two. Lilac's eyes widened at the sight of their pursuer.

"Sonic!" Lilac yelled, pointing back at the giant robot. "What the hell is that thing?!"

"Huh?" Sonic said, looking back to see the giant robot. "Oh shoot! I didn't think he'd have those built already!"

"What is it?!" Lilac said.

"One of Eggman's giant Badniks!" Sonic yelled. "He's tried sicking these things on us before! We gotta find a way to scrap this thing before it destroys this place!" With that, Sonic dived off the large bamboo stalks and rushed across the floor of the forest. "I'll find a weak spot! You keep it occupied!" Lilac nodded while keeping to the wall and having the gigantic Motobug continue pursuit. Sonic slowed down slightly to let the giant Badnik pass him, then dashed ahead to catch up to the bot and leap on top of it, keeping balanced while working on taking it out. The hedgehog quickly charged up a spindash and slammed into the robot's head giving an indent into the brain core of the giant Motobug. The spots on the back of the Motobug opened and fired off several electrical shock missiles, some straight ahead, some directly looping up and aimed at Sonic. Sonic smirked and leapt off, the missiles striking the Motobug and striking the brain core, deactiviating the robot and causing it to fall off the cliff face into a ball of flams and exploded. Sonic smirked to himself as he looked at his handiwork, until he heard a shriek and he rushed off ahead to where the other missiles flew. He found Lilac, her leg trapped under a rock and several parts of her lavender skin charred from the electrical blast.

"Oh jeez!" Sonic said, working quickly to try and push the rock off of Lilac's leg. "Sorry about that Lilac! I completely forgot about those missiles that came out of that thing!"

"I-it's okay." Lilac stuttered, trying to help Sonic get the rock off of her leg. "I-I think I can walk it off." Soon the rock was rolled off her leg, and Lilac stood up and tried to walk, but she took about two steps before she fell on her face. Sonic quickly ran over and scooped up the draconian into his arms. "O-okay, maybe not.. I can't feel my leg right now."

"I'll get you back." Sonic said. "Which way is the treehouse?"

"I'll give you directions." Lilac said. "We just need to keep moving." Sonic nodded, then took off deeper into the bamboo forest...

* * *

"I still think splitting up was a dumb idea!" Carol growled, speeding through another sector of the thick bamboo forest near Jade Creek with Milla on the back. "There's gonna be a high chance at least one of us is gonna get captured again!"

"Well, the point of us splitting up is so that we DON'T get caught!" Spade said, air-dashing to keep up. "As long as those two are able to outrun security, we should be fine!"

"So... they're distractions?" Milla asked. Spade nodded.

"They'll keep the scraps busy while we get away!" Spade said. "Carol! Where's that hiding spot you told us about?!"

"It's back at the treehouse!" Carol said, speeding the bike up. "Sonic and Lilac said they'll meet us there! How're ya holdin' up back there Tails?"

"I'm doing just fine!" Tails yelled back, catching up to the group. "Been trying to keep our tracks covered as best as we can so Eggman's robots can't find us. I don't know how long it'll keep us covered though."

"As long as those buckets of bolts don't find us, we'll be just fine!" Carol said. "We shouldn't be much further! Just keep up!" The wildcat seemed to have spoken too soon as soon a large energy blast struck the ground right behind Tails. The kitsune flinched out of shock before looking over his shoulder, seeing a large metallic base rising up in the water of Jade Creek, with a rather pissed-looking Metal Gong on top.

"Alright, I don't know HOW you managed to pull that stunt back there, but you are DEAD WRONG if you think you're pulling a fast one by me again!" Gong yelled.

"Shoot, looks like he's not up for reason..." Carol muttered to herself as several cannons appeared out of the sides of the metallic black ship.

"All turrets, FIRE!" Gong yelled as several of the cannons fired out large flaming rocks at the group. The four kept their pace up and managed to stay ahead of where the projectiles landed, but that was the least of their worries as soon the loud roar of motors overtook their concentration. Tails looked back to see the group of projectiles that had landed were now chasing after them at full speed.

"Meteor Rollers!" Milla squealed. "Oh no..."

"Leave them to me to take care of!" Spade said, dropping back a bit to let the Meteor Rollers catch up to him. With a quick leap above and a flurry of throws, Spade started flinging his cards at rapid speed, slicing through the metal of the robots like nothing else. Once the last one was properly shredded, Spade quickly dashed forward and caught up with the rest of the group. Gong didn't take the resistance too well, as soon several large capsules were fired out of the ship and crashed down in front of the four and soon surrounded them, the pods bursting open to reveal that each one had contained a Bullfrag, each one with its sights locked straight onto the four. Carol skidded her bike to a halt as well as Tails and Spade stopped in their tracks as the giant robotic frogs stared down the four. Spade gritted his teeth as soon the ship drew near, Metal Gong staring down the captured pack.

"Well well, trapped like a pack of rats in a maze!" Gong spoke. "Nice to see that your little escape attempt failed now! You're all going RIGHT BACK to the cells where you belong, and once that's done, The doc's gonna have field day with you r four on our side!"

"Get real, boltbrain!" Carol growled, revving her motorcycle. "I'd rather be dead than join that madman's army!"

Gong smirked at this. "Oh! Is that a challenge? Well, fine by me!" Gong swung his arm out, pointing it straight at the four. "Open fire!" The several surrounding Bullfrags immediately spewed the toxin bubbles straight at the group. Milla immediately charged up an orange sphere in her hand and flung it straight at the open mouth of one of the Bullfrags, before a light shone from the orb and caused the giant mech to explode, causing several scraps of metal and crystal shards to fly everywhere.

"NOW!" Spade yelled, before the four darted away from the scene. Gong was clearly mad by this before hitting a button on his gauntlet. "All troops mobilize! Find those brats and get them back here! PRONTO!"

* * *

"...okay, I think we lost him.." Carol said, looking back. "I don't think they're still on us..."

"Good," Spade said. "That'll keep them off us for a bit. How close are we?"

"We're not too far." Carol said. "We should lose 'em at the next junction and then, it'll be a straight shot to the treehouse."

Spade and Tails nodded. The four sped off towards the exit to the bamboo forest...

* * *

 _Lilac's Treehouse, noon..._

The blue hedgehog dashed up the ladder into the treehouse and set the draconian down on the couch in the central area, before Sonic sat down next to her. Lilac rubbed her leg in pain, flinching a bit.

"Oww..." She groaned, attempting to move her leg. "I don't think anything's broken, but it's clear I'm not moving this for a while."

"Just take it easy." Sonic said, setting a hand on the draconian's shoulder. "It's technically my fault this happened to you."

"Don't blame yourself," Lilac responded. "I've got no one but myself to blame for this. If I hadn't been so careless as to observing my surroundings, I probably wouldn't be like this right now."

"Eh... still, I feel responsible for that." Sonic said, rubbing the back of his head. "You did kinda get dragged into this..."

"Well, you know what?" Lilac said, turning his face towards hers. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Sonic and Lilac stared at eachother for a few minutes, the silence as stagnant and still as a lake. Time seemed to stand still as the two looked into eachothers eyes, moving closer to eachother... closer... closer...

"WE'RE BACK NOW!" Carol's voice yelled from outside as the others were climbing the ladder into the treehouse. Sonic and Lilac jumped at the shout, immediately blushing and looking away from eachother in embarrassment from the rather intimate moment before Carol walked into the treehouse and immediately noticed Lilac's damaged state. "Omigush, Lilac! What happened?!"

"Lilac's hurt?!" Milla cried, scurrying into the treehouse, horrified at the sight of the charred-scaled Lilac. "Lilac! Wh-what happened?!"

"I got careless." Lilac muttered, feeling the charred scales across her face. "Sonic and I ran across one of Eggman's giant robots back at Jade Creek. Things got a bit too hectic for our tastes and well, this happened."

"Jeez, you look worse for wear." Carol said, rushing to the pantry and getting some of the healing petals out of the cupboard. "At least I still remember the recipe from the Scarves..."

"Heh, old habits die hard, don't they Carol?" Spade chuckled to himself as he entered the building. Carol shot him a glare.

"Not the time for remarks right now Spade!" Carol growled, getting the healing tea mixed together. "What's important right now is our survival through this entire thing!"

"C'mon now, where's your sense of humor?" Spade said, leaning up against the wall of the treehouse. "At least lighten up a little."

"I will when our very way of life isn't threatened!" Carol said, taking the tea to Lilac. "Here, Lilac, take this."

"Thanks Carol..." Lilac said, taking the tea from the wildcat. "I don't think this will heal the scales, but it should stop the pain." With that, she took a small drink of the tea, the warm smooth flavor melting throughout her mouth. With a couple of sips, her leg was already feeling better, and her pain was subsiding, but her charred scales remained the same.

"Let me make some for Sonic too," Carol said, rushing back over to the cabinet.

"I appreciate the hospitality Carol..." Sonic said, petting the Basset's head that was resting in his lap. "So, Tails, what're we gonna do now?"

"Not sure about that at the moment." Tails answered, tinkering with his tablet radar at the table. "I'm currently trying to modify my radar to hack into Eggman's databases. If we can hack into that, we can find out what his plans are, and then we can formulate a plan of attack from there."

"We can only hope..." Sonic muttered to himself as Carol handed him the tea. "Thanks Carol."

"Anything to help out." The wildcat replied. "So Tails, need any help with that thing?"

"Yeah, come here for a bit..."

"So how soon are we gonna start cracking skulls and bring it straight to Eggman's doorstep?" Sonic asked. "I'm game for laying the smack down on him right now!"

"...No Sonic." Tails said. "At this point, Eggman's gonna have EVERYTHING on high alert looking for us right now. We're laying low for a while for our little jailbreak stunt to blow over before we make a move."

"I second that." Lilac spoke. "Let's just lay low for a bit..."

* * *

 _Several days later..._

The sun was setting on Avalice as the five grouped up for their strategy meeting on raiding the fortresses.

"Alright, after my investigating, here's what I've managed to pull up from his database." Tails said, pulling up a 3D hologram of the mapping of the kingdoms. "All three of the kingdoms are now heavily guarded by Eggman's robots. All main entrances are at least guarded with two Mallet Titans, and the vaults containing the emeralds are heavily guarded as well." He said, zooming in to isolate the three kingdoms. "Shang Mu's been transformed into a gigantic oriental theme park, Shang Tu's been a gigantic robot war factory, and Shiugang's been made into a gigantic power generator for all three. All three are heavily defended, and will more than likely shoot on sight at any signs of us."

"So, he's essentially put a giant-ass target on our backs to put us out of the picture." Carol sighed. "Figures, Brevon did the same thing to us last year. He even mut-"

"Carol!" Lilac growled. "I thought we talked that we would never bring that up again!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Carol said, a sweatdrop on her head. "E-either way, he's got us as a target now for escaping, right?"

Tails nodded. "We won't be able to get anywhere into the kingdoms unless we take percautions." He spoke, pulling out a couple of scanners from under the table and handed one to Sonic and one to Lilac, keeping one for himself. "These will be able to get us past the security systems Eggman's got peppered all across the kingdoms. They'll also scan any of his new robots for any of their stronger power levels, just in case you do get caught."

"Heh, sweet!" Sonic said, putting the scanner on the side of his head. "This'll be awesome to use!"

"So... why didn't we get any?" Carol asked.

"I only had enough Materia to make these three." Tails answered, reaching under the table again. "Besides, I've been using most of the rest of it to fashion THIS puppy!"

"Ooh! Puppies?!" Milla asked, eyes widened and tail wagging. Tails smirked a bit and pulled out what looked like a blaster out from underneath the table.

"Whoa, Tails, never thought you'd be packing heat!" Sonic said.

"Sonic," Tails sighed. "This is a de-roboticizer. With this, I can reverse the process of what happened to Neera and Gong and get them back on our side!"

"Heh, never thought the little kitsune had such a big brain." Spade chuckled to himself. "He'd make an excellent addition to the tech department of the Scarves..."

"Spade..." Lilac sighed, pinching her forehead. "Either way, what's our plan of action for getting at the Emeralds?"

"I was just getting to that." Tails said. "Sonic, Lilac, Spade, you three are group one. Milla and Carol, you're with me. Sonic's group will infiltrate into Shang Mu and sneak through disguised as best as they can until they get into the inner areas, where the emerald should be located. There's also readings of Metal Sonic running around the place, so there's high chances he's guarding the emerald."

"As long as the Scarves haven't become allies with that gigantic coot, we'll be fine." Spade said. "I can talk some sense into them. They can create a distraction that'll get us into the place."

Tails nodded. "Then you guys can get moving along there." He said, turning to Carol and Milla. "Meanwhile, we sneak into Shuigang, take out the bots there, and shut down the power to the other kingdoms. With shutting down the generator in Shuigang, we can stop the production of his army and then, we can raid Shang Tu, get the emeralds there, de-roboticize Gong, and then go after Eggman."

"I got your back Tails!" Carol said, cracking her knuckles with a smirk on her face. "I say that it's time to crack some metal skulls now!"

Tails nodded. "We all have our assignments now," He said, strapping the blaster to his side. "Let's make sure we show Eggman what happens when you mess with us!"

"Aw hell yeah!" Sonic said, a grin appearing on his face. "Time to scramble some Eggman!" With that the two groups left the treehouse, ready to put the plan into action and stop the madman for good...

* * *

 **And so the heroes have reunited! With the plans of raiding the kingdoms in motion, things are finally looking up for our heroes. But will things go to plan? Or will things be complicated and issues arise? With Eggman on the loose and the kingdoms captured, will Sonic and Lilac be able to recover the lost emeralds? Find out in the next instalment; "The Raid on Shang Mu"...**


	7. Chapter 6: The Raid on Shang Mu

**_..._**

 ** _Sonic and Lilac: Tides of Chaos  
Act 2_**

 _Chapter 6: The Raid on Shang Mu_

"What's our expected arrival time Lilac?" Sonic asked as the trio dashed across the snow-covered hills towards the spotlight-riddled entertainment city, fully under Eggman's control.

"We've got at least a few minutes before we get there," Lilac said, running through one of the loops embedded into the rock faces of the valley. "If there's one thing I know for sure, we're not getting in through the main gates. Eggman's bots are probably already guarding the main entrances."

"Well, it's a good thing you have me along then!" Spade said. "The hideout has a back entrance away from the city. We can get in through there, then go after the emerald."

"The question is, is SHE gonna be there?" Lilac asked. "I'm pretty sure there would've been an uproar and a massive fight breaking out in the city if she was there."

"Lilac, I have no idea." Spade answered bluntly. "You know how she can be. We don't even know if she is there or not!"

"Okay, I know I'm not from this planet and all," Sonic said. "But I'm kinda out of the loop. Who the heck are you guys talking about?"

Lilac looked over to Sonic. "We're talking about our leader. Well... Spade's leader to be specific." She answered, running through a half helix rock formation. "She's the Head Scarf and she's not to be taken lightly."

"You've got that right." Spade said. "No one knows her true identity, due to that giant helmet she wears. Doesn't really matter, she can still flatten anyone's ass if they don't comply to her rules. That's how she works."

"Spade, you make it sound like she's completely heartless." Lilac said, rolling her eyes. "She does have a soft spot."

"Yeah, for you anyway." Spade remarked. "Either way, we're getting close to the back entrance. Just keep your cool, and make sure you don't piss her off if she's there."

Sonic nodded. Soon the trio reached a large rock pile a few yards away from the walls of the roboticized Shang Mu. Spade pushed aside the gigantic rock in the pile, revealing a hole with a ladder heading down into the ground. Sonic jumped down the hole first, followed by Spade and then Lilac.

"Well, this place is seriously dark as heck!" Sonic said, the only light coming from the hole above. "Explain as to how we're getting into the city this way?"

"Well," Spade said, hitting a large switch on the cave wall, before an entire series of lights lit up in the tunnel. "Just follow my lead."

* * *

 _Red Scarves Hideout, Neo Eggmanland..._

With a couple of slams, soon the door burst open and the trio walked through into the hideout. Several members of the scarves jumped at the noise, but then immediately stood at attention once they saw Spade with the other two.

"M-Master Spade!" One of the ninjas spoke. "It is an honor to have your return!"

"Adease, comrades." Spade said, setting the other ninjas at rest. "Give me a status update. Is the Head Scarf in?"

One of the Scarves shook his head. "Head Scarf is out. Said she had some business to take care off outside the kingdoms." Spade pinched his forehead in frustration, sighing.

"Jeez, it's like I've gotta do all the damn work around here." He growled. "Get this place into lockdown. No other Scarves leave except for me and the other two, and no robots get into here." Spade said, walking past most of the Scarves to the other side of the hideout. "We have a code Red here people! Get your asses in gear!" The Scarves immediately rushed and got to work on sealing up the back passage where the trio came from. Sonic looked over to Lilac and the draconian just shrugged.

"Let's go you two!" Spade yelled, causing Lilac to jump. Sonic nodded and the two walked after Spade, meeting him at the manhole exit into the city. "Alright, get your disguises ready. Once we go up there, we're sealed out of the hideout until we free this damn place."

Lilac nodded, donning the black cloak she was given. "We've got a lot of work to do while we're in here. Let's make sure we get this done right." She pulled the hood of the cloak up, hiding her face aside from her glowing lavender eyes.

Sonic nodded, getting his cloak on. "We're gonna need luck on our side..."

* * *

 _Neo Eggmanland: Former Shang Mu..._

The manhole entrance creaked open as the trio of cloaked figures climbed out of the hideout before the manhole closed, sealing up behind them. The large metal walls extended above them, neon lighting flashing on and off and black smoke above the entire kingdom. Spade turned his attention to Sonic. "Alright hedgehog, where's our point of entry into the emerald's location?"

Sonic tapped the scanner on the side of his head, bringing up a map hud. "Entrance into the deep part of the city... appears to be a bit of a walk from here. It's located in one of the massive buildings, looks like a large shopping mall."

"I think I know which one it is." Lilac spoke. "I know the route there, so I can get us there quickly without much trouble."

"Well, whatever the plan, we need to move fast," Spade said, looking at the smoke covering the sky. "Any slower, this mad doc of yours is gonna complete that scrap heap before we even get a chance to scrap it."

Sonic and Lilac nodded. "Then let's get moving."

The smoke hung heavy above the city while the neon lights flickered as the trio moved among the masses of people within the roboticized city. Surprisingly enough, even with the large amounts of neon lighting and thick black smoke hanging over the city, the roboticized Shamg Mu somehow managed to make itself look better than normal Shang Mu, despite the fact Eggman had control of it. Large japanese lanterns rose into the sky as many people shuffled to other businesses and some of the new large rides adourning the building, branded with Eggman's logo, as well as several crates scattered with the same logo.

"Well... this is unexpected..." Lilac breathed, looking around. "Why... why does this place look not so threatening roboticized?"

Sonic shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe Eggman's trying to broaden his views and convince people he's the good guy." He said, crossing his arms. "Doesn't matter, he's still on our hit list."

Spade nodded. "How close are we?"

Sonic checked the scanner again. "Hundred yards, and closing." He said. "It's just up ahead. Keep your cool."

Lilac nodded, but the trio soon stopped when the voice of an Egg Pawn spoke from behind the three.

"You three! Halt!" The robot spoke, approaching the three. "You three haven't been seen around here before. Please provide proper identification."

"Uhh..." Lilac stuttered. "You know, I think I forgot to grab our IDs before we left home!" She hastily said, pushing Sonic and Spade with her away from the Egg Pawn. "Excuse us for a minute..." The Egg Pawn looked suspiciously as Lilac pushed the other two away from the bot into a back alley. "Well, that complicates things. Looks like Eggman thought of this."

"Is there any other way around?" Spade asked. Sonic checked the map on his scanner again.

"Looks like there's a back entrance..." Sonic answered. "We can sneak around the back and get into the mall from there. That might be our only way to get inside at this point."

"Hello? Ma'am?" The Egg Pawn's voice echoed from around the corner. "IDs?"

"Uhh..." Lilac said. "We'll be out in a bit!" She called, before turning back to the group. "Let's get to that back entrance before the bots find out what's going on..." Sonic and Spade nodded, then the trio took off towards the back entrance. The Egg Pawn soon rounded the corner to see the trio disappearing around another corner, before raising one of its metal hands to its comm unit.

"This is Egg Pawn 2301," The robot spoke. "We've got a couple of unidentified people running around Neo Eggmanland. Requesting backup search parties to locate the intruders..."

* * *

 _Neo Eggmanland Mall, Back Entrance..._

"Man, I can't believe our luck that we were able to get here so easily!" Spade chuckled to himself as he waited on Sonic. "How's the hacking, hedgehog?"

"Should be almost done..." Sonic said, hitting a few buttons on his scanner. "It's a bit deep though. Lilac, could ya give me a hand at this?" Lilac nodded, then activated her scanner and helped Sonic with hacking into the back door security. "Alright, we're in!"

"Then let's get moving..." Spade said, opening the door. The trio walked inside and soon entered into the large shopping mall, adourned with neon lights and large disco balls. Food courts and large stores adourned the area, with several tables and umbrellas, along with large party balls on propellors floating around the place.

"Well, let's start searching for that Chaos Emerald." Spade said. "Lilac, what's the scouter say about the location of the gemstone?"

"Well," Lilac said, checking her scouter for energy readings. "The emerald appears to be somewhere below here... It looks like we can get through a maintenance shaft and get to the emerald hold through there. But..." She muttered looking at the entrance to the mall, seeing several Egg Pawns entering into the store, along with Metal Sonic. "Looks like we've got company."

"Let's split up." Sonic said. "They can't find us if we're not together." The other two nodded, and split up between the several floors of the giant complex Spade sticking to the bottom floor, Lilac heading for the first floor, and Sonic zipping up all the way to the second floor. Metal took notice, just like the trio wanted.

"Split up between floors." Metal said sternly to the accompanying Egg Pawns. "Find those infiltrators and have them promptly arrested. We can't have anyone suspicious running around the city when Eggman is close to his victory." The Egg Pawns nodded, then began their split off to search for the group. Several onlookers looked over out of curiosity at Metal, who he quickly addressed. "Nothing to see here citizens," He spoke calmly. "Move along now." The citizens went back to their businesses and Metal headed to the second floor, unaware that a pair of eyes were watching the trio...

Spade walked silently around the ground floor. For the most part, things for undercover were going well, aside from the occasional Egg Pawn approaching, however, things soon went south when a large group of them approached the panda.

"Identification, sir." The one at the front spoke, holding out its metallic hand. Spade merely smirked to himself and handed the robot a card: and Ace of Spades. The robot looked over the card, then looked back at the figure. "Sir, is this some kind of joke?"

"No sir, just providing the proper identification." Spade said, watching the robots continue to study the card. The lead robot turned his attention to the hooded panda.

"Sir, I am not programmed to tolerate asinine behavior." The robot spoke again. "Now please, provide proper identification or we will be forced to make an arrest!"

Spade chuckled to himself. "I honestly have no idea what you mean." He said, turning and beginning to walk away, but he halted at the feeling of a blaster to the back of his head.

"I gave you a warning, insubordinate!" The Egg Pawn spoke, keeping the barrel of the blaster firmly set against the back of his head. "Now, you're coming with us, and you have some explaining to do to the boss!"

"Heh, never thought they could program a world-class sense of humor into these things..." Spade chuckled to himself, pulling out a razor blade card. "But if we're going to see your 'boss'..." He said, flinging it into the Egg Pawn's head, causing it to short circuit and deactivate, falling over. "We're doing it my way..." The robots then charged at the panda, ready to arrest the insubordinate...

* * *

Meanwhile, Lilac was walking between the aisles of the first floor clothing department, keeping her distance from the Egg Pawns that had just entered into the area, some carrying blasters, others carrying lances. Lilac held her breath, keeping herself calm until a lance thrust through the aisle shelves, mere inches from the side of her face. Lilac ran off as the lance was wrenched free and the Egg Pawn took after her, attracting attention of everyone in the store at the ongoing chase. Lilac kept her distance from the robot until it threw its lance, catching the draconian's cloak and snagging it to the wall. Lilac struggled to get her cloak free from the lance lodged into the wall as the Egg Pawn approached her.

"Well, a little bit of a rebellious girl we have here!" The Egg Pawn spoke, grabbing the draconian's shoulder. "Well, won't the boss be so happy once we get you and your little rebellious friends some IDs!"

"Uh, okay..." Lilac muttered. "C-can you let me go?"

"Sorry kid," The Pawn said, grabbing the draconian's wrists. "You ain't goin' anywhere until we get you a proper ID. Now come along now.."

"W-wait, is this legal for you to do?" The draconian stuttered, getting dragged along by the Pawn. "D-doesn't this need consent or something?!"

"Kid, you'll be fine!" The Egg Pawn spoke, continuing to walk while dragging Lilac along. "Just cooperate!"

"This doesn't seem as friendly as your making it out!" Lilac squealed, struggling to break the grip of the Egg Pawn. "Let me go!" At that moment, a large icicle spike had pierced through the robot, causing it to release the grip on Lilac, the tip of the icicle mere inches from her forehead. Lilac screamed as the icicle soon sliced straight up, splitting the Pawn in half and causing the halves to fall to the sides, where Lilac got a good view of the attacker: A snowcat, fur as white and pure as untouched snow, aside from her moderate chest and stomach, the tip of her tail, the tips of her bangs on the sides of her head, and the fur at the top of her ears, which was a dirty coal black. She had a large bang of fur like in front of her face like Lilac's hair, wore black bracelets, a black collar with a yellow gem, light green boots and a black cloth across her chest and arms. Her piercing black eyes stared at Lilac, who was terrified at the situation.

"Hey, you okay?" The snowcat asked, evaporating the large icicle spike. Lilac nodded quickly. "Good, I was beginning to think I was too late."

"W-wait, why are you helping?" Lilac asked, getting to her feet. "Doesn't this mean the robots are gonna be after you two?"

"Personally, I couldn't care less." The snowcat spoke, turning away from the draconian. "I don't believe that anyone, especially a hero of Avalice, should be treated like some petty commoner like this new ruler has been organizing everything. And, well, I'm not taking that sitting down."

"So... does this mean you're on our side?" Lilac asked. The snowcat nodded.

"Now we need to hurry, your other friend is in danger!" She spoke, grabbing the draconian's wrist and running up the escalator to the second floor...

* * *

On the second floor of the department store, Sonic kept his cool and kept walking among the store aisles, while Egg Pawns kept storming around the floor, trying to find the hedgehog. Sonic chuckled to himself as Egg Pawns flailed around the floor failing at trying to find him. He figured he may as well leave the floor and go find the emerald down below the mall, until a certain bot caught his eye. None other than his robotic copy was on the floor, hovering above the aisles to locate him; Sonic merely smirked at this.

"Heh, well, Eggman sent Metal here to lock down the emerald, huh?" Sonic chuckled to himself. "We'll see about that."

"Alright intruder!" Metal's voice rang throughout the area. "The entire floor is completely surrounded! Now surrender yourself quietly and there won't be any hassle! Otherwise there will be an intervention!" Sonic smirked at the metal doppleganger's comment.

"How's about handing over the Chaos Emerald first!" Sonic yelled, quickly charging and slamming his foot into the side of Metal Sonic's head. Metal's head did about three full revolutions before he clamped his head, stopping the spinning and reorienting himself. His red eyes glowed in anger as he began to look around the area, searching for the attacker.

"I know you're up here!" Metal yelled. "Now show yourself!"

"Now where's the fun in that?" Sonic called from his hiding spot. "What, don't wanna have a good time?"

"I do not have time to deal with insubordinates like you!" Metal growled, the bystanders standing back from the scene. "Now show yourself!"

"Heh, whatever you say then!" Sonic said, leaping out from behind a shelf and landing in the opening in front of Metal. "Well, long time no see, wouldn't you say?"

"Well, finally nice of you to show yourself then!" Metal spoke, not taking his eyes off the cloaked figure. "Now, surrender yourself peacefully or I WILL use deadly force!"

"Heh, typical, all business, no fun!" Sonic said, grabbing for his cloak and ripping it off. "Well, if you wanna play like that, then let's rumble!"

Metal's arms morphed into minigun barrels, aimed straight at the hedgehog. "Well, considering this is you, faker," He spoke. "I will be more than happy to dispose of YOUR bullet-riddled corpse!"

"Heh, you wish!" Sonic said, activating the scanner. "Bring it, can opener!"

* * *

Metal's guns whirred and fired off large amounts of rounds as Sonic dashed out of the way, civilians fleeing the scene to allow the chaotic battle to ensue. Sonic quickly dashed up the wall and soon slammed into Metal Sonic, careening him sideways into a store shelf. Sonic landed back onto the ground and quickly scanned the robot. He didn't get much time, as Metal soon got back up and charged at him, knocking him sideways and causing the blue blur to rebound off the floor before Metal grabbed his leg and flipped him around and smashed him into the tile floor. Sonic's head wracked in pain as he tried to get up, and luckily dodged out of the way in time before Metal's fist came down where his head had been. Sonic dashed away from Metal again and soon ducked behind another aisle wall, avoiding an electrical blast from the metal copy.

"What's the matter, copy?" Metal's voice grinded, taunting Sonic. "Too much for you to handle?"

"Nah, just assessing my situation!" Sonic said, dashing to another aisle back. "What's the matter? Just wanting to drag this out?!" The hedgehog taunted. _"Dammit! I need to get to his central turbine, otherwise he's just gonna be ridiculous to try and fight! Gotta think here..."_

"Come out, you blue rodent!" Metal yelled. "I guarantee that by the end of the night, you'll be nothing more than swiss cheese!" Metal's minigun arms whirled up again and fired, shooting up the entirity of the aisles as Sonic darted around the area, trying to keep cover as best as he could, though the few bullets kept grazing him before he made a run at Metal, slamming himself into the robot and causing a tumble, Sonic slamming his fists into the side of Metal's head before Metal threw him off and into another area and immediately modified his arms and fired several missiles, causing massive explosions and blowing out a large chunk of the wall. Metal stared at the carnage of the area before him, until Sonic delivered a roundhouse kick straight into the robot's abdomen, causing Metal to flinch and collapse. Sonic collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily with a smirk on his face.

"Heh, what's the matter? Not so tough when you're hit there, huh?" He chuckled to himself, before a metal hand grip his throat, hoisting him into the air, Metal's cold, emotionless face staring down the hedgehog. Sonic squirmed as he struggled to break free, Metal's grip tightening around his throat.

"Well then, I've had some fun," Metal's cold voice said, his other arm, now morphing to wield a buzzsaw. "But I think it's time to end this. Sayonara, Sonic the Hedgehog!" Metal then inched the buzzsaw closer to Sonic's face, ready to cut him apart before a blast slammed into Metal, slamming him away and bashing him against the wall. It was Lilac! She had arrived just in time to save Sonic, and now was beating the ever-living daylights out of the robotic hedgehog. Lilac's anger against Metal Sonic was clearly evident, as soon she constantly used her Dragon Boost and drove Metal further into the wall.

"Don't. Ever. Hurt. My. FRIEND!" Lilac growled, smashing Metal into the wall as fast and as hard as she could until Metal was no longer moving. Lilac breathed heavily, exhausted from all the energy she had just expended. Lilac then ran over to check on Sonic, who was already being seen by the snowcat accompanying her.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Lilac asked, checking on Sonic. The cat nodded.

"He'll be fine." The snowcat spoke, helping the hedgehog up. "He just needs some rest."

"Man.." Sonic said. "I haven't had a rumble like that in AGES! That was awesome!"

"Sonic..." Lilac chuckled. "What exactly were you doing? Did he catch you?"

"Eh, more like he wanted a good rumble and I tried to deliver." Sonic said. "Anyways, who are you? A friend of Lilac's?"

"No, we never met." Lilac spoke. "Speaking of which, we've never met before. You are?"

"Ah, my apologies," The snowcat spoke. "Neige Taicho. Just call me Neige."

"Well, nice to meet 'cha Neige!" Sonic said, extending his hand. "Name's Sonic!"

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet the both of you." Neige spoke. Soon a soft chuckling was heard and Metal Sonic melted into a pile of liquid and slid along the floor past the trio, reforming on the other side, staring the trio down.

"Aw, what's the matter Metal?" Sonic said. "You want a round two?"

Metal Sonic merely chuckled. "And so the little loathsome copy has to rely on his friends... such a pity, really. I didn't want to have to get brutally messy..." At that moment, Metal's arms morphed into large laser cannons, pointed straight at the three. "But, it seems I have no choice!"

Neige had frost build up in her hands as she stared on at the robot. "I may not know who you are, but you are not going to get away with serving that tyrant!" She growled. Lilac got into a defensive position as Sonic got to his feet.

"Well then, time for round two!" Sonic yelled.

* * *

A couple of quick card tosses, and soon all the Egg Pawns Spade was dealing with were reduced to scrap. Spade chuckled to himself as he picked up the cards from the piles of Egg Pawn scraps.

"Well, that wasn't so hard." Spade amusedly said, restacking his cards. "And here I thought this would be a decent challenge! Now, to find that emerald..." His thoughts were soon interrupted as something large crashed through the ceiling, creating a large hole in the floor and showing the way to an under level. Spade chuckled to himself.

"Well, that creates less work for me." Spade said to himself as he jumped down the hole in the floor, just to witness the fight between the others and Metal Sonic. "Looks like they might need a bit of my help."

"Just die already!" Metal yelled as he fired the twin laser guns at Lilac. Lilac swiftly dodged out of the way and rebounded off a wall, slamming into Metal with another full brunt of a Dragon Boost. Metal was flung into the wall but quickly rebounded, grabbing Lilac and slamming her into the ground before pressing the barrel of the minigun up to her face, ready to blow it off. But his reflexes were to slow and soon Neige slammed into him and knocked him off of Lilac. Metal got back up and his hands morphed back into laser cannons, pointed straight at the snowcat and fired. Neige anticipated this move and raised an icicle spike shield, blocking the lasers before the attack stopped, and with a stomp and a hand movement, she shattered the icicle shield into several deadly shards and fired all the shrapnel at the robot. Metal blocked a large amount of the shards before rushing at the snowcat, his metallic hands bearing his claws to slice at her. Neige grabbed the robot's hands, keeping the murderous Metal from her neck, before freezing the attacker's arms. A small smirk appeared on her face as she froze Metal entirely in place, turning the robot entirely into an ice statue. She then released her grip when Metal was no longer moving, then delivered a firm roundhouse kick to the robot, knocking it sideways and having it hit the floor.

"Well then, that takes of that issue." Neige said, rubbing her arm where she was grabbed. "Now then are the rest of you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Sonic said, getting up. "Little bit bummed I didn't get another shot at Metal, but, eh, considering I did most of the ass-kicking back on round one, I think I earned a little reprieve."

"Heh, you certainly look worse for wear, that's for sure." Spade commented.

"Says the guy who didn't even show up for the boss fight!" Sonic shot back. "Seriously, where were you?"

"Busy dealing with a legion of that fat man's tin cans." Spade remarked. "Now then, where's the emerald?"

Lilac checked her scanner. "We're close. It's just a floor down, and the maintenance shaft isn't that far from here."

Their thoughts were soon interrupted as soon Metal broke free of the ice, hovering back up in front of the four. Neige got her ice ready for another defense, but Metal soon put this attempt aside.

"You may have won this round, you flea-ridden fleshbags," Metal growled, rising into the air. "But you've only gotten a taste of what has to come! Enjoy your victory while it lasts!" With that, Metal Sonic took off, away from the scene..

"Well then, let's get moving." Sonic said, then the four took off down the maintenance shaft...

* * *

After a minute or two, the four ended down at the bottom floor below the mall, where a large vault door stood before them, with a large dial and a keypad on the wall right next to it. Spade smirked to himself as he strode up to the vault.

"Well, if Zao didn't even bother to change the coding combination for this safe since the last raid, this should be a piece of cake to crack." Spade chuckled, testing the keypad and inserting a code into the keypad. The keypad lit up green and the safe dial turned automatically, the safe door creaking open as Spade smirked to himself. "What'd I tell ya? Old habits die hard."

"Can we just get the emerald already?" Lilac asked. "We're on a time limit right now."

"Uh... a little help?" A voice said from inside the safe. The four turned to see none other than Mayor Zao, in a cage, hanging from the ceiling of the safe.

"Mayor Zao!" Lilac cried, launching a Dragon Boost and severing the chain, allowing the cage to land on the large amount of treasure below. "Are you alright?!"

"The only thing hurt on me right now is my pride!" Zao spoke angrily. "I am seething right now that that overgrown tyrant thinks he can just walk in and take over like there's no consequence for him! Like he thinks he's above everyone else!"

Sonic nodded. "Well, at least me and this guy see eye to eye about Eggman's ego." He said, crossing his arms. "So, he gonna get this place back into working order?"

"Oh, you bet I am!" Zao spoke. "I guarantee that by the end of this day, Shang Mu will rise back to it's former glory from the depths of this mechanical wasteland! We will FIGHT against this menace!"

 **+5 GLORY**

 _"Uh... okay then.."_ Sonic thought to himself. "So then, we're just about done here. Where's the emerald?"

"Ah, yes! That gemstone!" Zao said, running to the back of the safe and grabbing a white gemstone out of the large treasure pile. "I believe that this would be what you're looking for!"

"Thank you, Mayor Zao!" Lilac said, taking the gem.

"Eh, consider it nothing!" Zao spoke. "Now then, to rebuild..."

"Alright guys, we've got the emerald back." Lilac said. "Time to return home and meet back up with the others!"

"Alright, race ya guys back!" Sonic said, taking off. Spade merely smirked before taking off in following the hedgehog, followed by Neige and Lilac...

* * *

"Heh, now THAT'S what I call a successful raid!" Spade said as the four returned to the treehouse. "Nothin' like a little anarchy to kickstart a revolution against that fat bastard!"

"You've got that right!" Lilac said, running through a loop in a rock face. "Pretty soon Eggman's gonna be choking on his own rule once we bring the fight straight to him!"

"Egghead better give up now while we're ahead!" Sonic said, running alongside Lilac. "I personally think we've earned a bit of a reprieve while we wait for the others."

"Same." Lilac said, the four now approaching the treehouse. "Hey, you okay Neige? You've been quiet the entire way back."

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine." Neige spoke. "Just haven't had anything to say on the way back."

"Well, go ahead and make yourself comfy." Lilac said, the snowcat climbing the ladder up to the treehouse. Lilac the climbed up the ladder and then parkoured off of several branches before reaching the roof of the treehouse and lying down on it, looking up at the sky. She sighed, looking at the large planet of Mobius nearby and the large, nearly-complete Death Egg Mk. III. She sighed again, thinking back to what was happening the past few days. Finding the Chaos Emeralds, meeting Sonic and his friends, getting shot out of the sky, reliving being caught and left to rot in Shang Tu's prison, escaping along Jade Creek, raiding Shang Mu... things seemed to be mirroring the events of what happened last year. A chill ran up her spine as she thought of this. If something like _that_ happened again...

"Hey, you okay?" A voice said, causing Lilac to jump a bit. The draconian looked over to see Sonic, lying down on the roof next to her.

Lilac nodded, leaning back again. "Yeah...just thinking a bit." She said. "Just about all this stuff that's been going on recently. I feel like everything's going by so fast, I almost have next to no time to react. Is it always like this for you and your group?"

"Heh, I guess you can say that." Sonic chuckled to himself. "What, usually not that big on adventure?"

"Well, not really..." Lilac said, letting out a heavy sigh. "The only big adventure my friends and I had were last year, which I already told you about, where we fought against Brevon to get back the Kingdom Stone. Things kinda went off the wall back then..."

"Heh, I could tell..." Sonic said, looking up at the sky. "You seem really defensive of Milla especially."

"Well, why wouldn't I be?" Lilac said, sighing. "Milla's only eleven. She's still got an entire life ahead of her, and I don't want to see her go away at a young age..."

"Carol... tried talking about something that happened last year when we were doing the planning before you interrupted." Sonic said, and Lilac almost felt her heart stop from that statement. "Does that... have anything to do with Milla?" Lilac remained silent at Sonic's question before he asked again. "Hey, you okay?"

Lilac nodded. "I...I really don't want to talk about it..." She said, turning away from Sonic a bit.

"Am I striking a nerve again?" Sonic asked. Lilac shook her head.

"No... it's just.. it's something I don't want to bring up... what happened .. last year..." Sonic noticed the tears starting to stream down her face as she sat up, trying to hold back her sobs a bit.

 _"...man, what do I do here..."_ Sonic thought. _"I'm not one when it usually comes to romance, but... she seems down right now. Maybe I could..."_ Sonic shook his head. _"No, I already told myself I'm not gonna be committed to a relationship. I'm not gonna get bogged down with all that lovey-dovey crud. But..."_ He looked back over to Lilac, now sobbing into her hands. Sonic shook his head. _"I mean, she's cute. She's definitely more attractive than some of the Mobian girls... and she's got the spunk to show and the speed to keep up... Alright..."_ Sonic set one of his hands on the dragon's shoulder, stopping her sobbing and causing her to look over to him.

"Look, Lilac..." Sonic said. "I can guarantee you, everything is gonna be fine. We're gonna stop Eggman, and I'll be DAMNED if we don't get your world back to normal by the end of this!"

"Sonic..." Lilac breathed, the tears starting to subside as she looked at him.

"Lilac... I promise..." Sonic spoke. What happened next had caught the hedgehog off guard.

Lilac planted her lips onto his, locking him into a kiss. Sonic was caught off guard when the dragon had made the first contact, but he remained quiet while he took in the feel of Lilac's lips before she broke the kiss.

"Sonic..." Lilac breathed. "I... I appreciate the help.. all of it... after what happened last year, I think I need it..." The dragon curled up and started shuddering again.

"It's the least I can do.." Sonic said, setting a hand onto the dragon's back before she leaned on him, the two now looking out at the now setting sun. "Wonder how Tails and the others are doing..."

* * *

 **And so, Sonic's group has been met with success! Metal Sonic has fled out and Mayor Zao has reclaimed order over Shang Mu. But with time of the essence, the heroes can only hope that Tails and his group are able to take down Neo Metropolis and rescue Neera-Li before the Death Egg Mk. III is fully complete for taking over both planets with no resistance. Will Tails and Carol succeed with their plan, or will Metal Neera bring their mission to a freezing halt, causing Eggman to win? Find out in the next chapter, "Stealth Mission in Shuigang"...**


	8. Chapter 7: Stealth Mission in Shuigang

_**...**_

 _ **Sonic and Lilac: Tides of Chaos  
Act 2**_

 _Chapter 7: Stealth Mission in Shuigang_

"Man, it feels like forever since we left the treehouse!" Carol said as the three made their way across Dragon Valley towards the roboticized Shuigang. "Tails, we gettin' any closer to that thing?"

"Not yet Carol," Tails said, checking his scanner. "We've still got a couple miles before we get to the outer walls, so hopefully we can be there by nightfall!"

"This would be a lot faster if I could use my bike!" Carol retorted, keeping up with the kitsune on foot. "We could get there and get the emeralds, grab Neera and be back in about an hour tops!"

"The exhaust from your bike as well as the noise from it is going to draw attention to us!" Tails said, keeping his pace. "If we're going to get those emerald out from there and free Shuigang in the process, we can't have Eggman or Neera know we're breaking in!"

"Then how are we going to get the emeralds?" Milla asked, having to ride on Carol's back to the location. "We dunno how much of the bad guys are there! We could get hurt real bad!"

"Aw c'mon Ruff Stuff! What're you so worried about?" Carol said. "If this goon's bots are half of what Brevon's troops were, this'll be nothing more than a cakewalk!"

"I hope..." Milla muttered to herself as the three closed in on Shuigang...

* * *

 _Neo Metropolis; Former Shuigang..._

"And I want you to make sure that energy productions for the other two kingdoms are at maximum output, do I make myself clear?" The metallic Neera growled over the transmission. The Egg Pawn on the screen gave the robotic panda a salute before the transmission cut, a small nonexisant smile appearing on the panda's face.

"Good, that should speed up production on Gong's end," Neera said to herself as she checked the security cameras around the facility. "And the Chaos Emeralds should be well secured in the vault. With that new war robot in storage here, it should be able to harness Chaos Energy for power. Master Robotnik should be most pleased with this..." Her thoughts were interrupted as another transmission had appeared on the screen, and with the wave of her hand, the transmission activated, showing Metal Sonic on screen.

"Ah, Metal," Neera spoke. "A rather unexpected time to get a call from you. What brings you to transmit to me?"

"There's been an unexpected problem on my end. Needless to say, we've lost Neo Eggmanland and the Chaos Emerald there." Neera's face fell at that statement. "Hold your position in Neo Metropolis as best you can. Master's ultimate weapon is not complete yet, and we need to bide our time and keep the Kingdom Energy under tight wraps until the weapon is complete, and make sure to exterminate any of the pests that sneak in." Neera nodded. "Good, I see that we have at least someone competent at the wheel of this generator. Now, you know your directives, make sure they follow through!"

"Metal, I guarantee that this will will run smoothly." Neera spoke. "Now then, return to the Death Egg and help the master with the project there." Metal nodded, then the transmission ended. Neera walked over to andother large keyboard and hit a button, activating the intercom. "Attention troops, this is Neera speaking. Set all generators into overdrive and tighten security on the Emerald vault. I have a feeling that we are going to have some company... VERY soon..."

* * *

 _Neo Metropolis, Outer Walls..._

The trio of heroes soon arrived at the outer wall, keeping clear of the searchlights above the metallic wall. "Alright Tailsy, what's the plan?"

"Carol, I need you to sneak up that wall and take out that searchlight above us." Tails spoke, indicating of the large tower above them. "Once that's down, Milla and I can fly up undetected and sneak into the ventilation shafts, and get into the generator housing from there. We get to the core, fight Neera, de-roboticize her, shut off the generator, which, in turn, shuts off security to the vault, and grab the Emeralds there." Tails said, handing Carol a device. "This will deactivate the searchlight. You know what to do."

Carol grinned. "Hell yeah I know what to do," Carol said, taking the device. "Just leave this to the former Red Scarf." With that, Carol lept up the wall, clinging to the surface as she lept from outcrop to outcrop on the wall, occasionally ducking under the outcroppings when the spotlight passed over her area. "There bots are really not making anything easier..." The wildcat muttered to herself as she climbed the all further before reaching the underside of the searchlight box. Carol extended her claws and pryed the ventilation covering off of the bottom before climbing up into the box. Keeping silent, the wildcat stayed motionless as the Egg Pawns continued their duties, not noticing the green wildcat at the back. Keeping to herself, Carol reached into her gem shard pocket and pulled out several of the shuriken she had nabbed from the strongbox back in Shang Tu, and quickly flicked her wrist, throwing and lodging the small metal stars into the robots circuitry, disabling them. She quickly went to work, hooking the device up to the searchlight, shutting off the light completely.

"Alright, the light's down," Tails said. "Let's go Milla."

"Right!" She spoke, grabbing onto Tails wrists and holding on as Tails ascended up until the two landed on the wall, with Carol coming out of the searchlight box. "So.. where do we get in from here?"

"There's a ventilation system just nearby that can get us into here." Tails said, checking the scanner. "We can enter in from there and get inside with little problems."

"I hope." Carol said. "Anything t-"

"Shh!" Milla shushed, her ears twitching. "W-we need to hide!" She squealed, grabbing the other two's wrists and dashing around a corner, just in time for a large robotic crab, one claw extremely large and covered in spikes, plodded by, patrolling the area. "Tails... what is that?"

"A Shellcracker.." Tails growled. "Figures that Eggman would make his base out of nostalgia from his previous bases. That means that this place would be modeled after Metropolis Zone, his first base when I paired up with Sonic. Unfortunately for us, that means the unholy triad of Badniks are going to be here, THAT being one of them."

"So, where do we go now?"

"The vent is right nearby." Tails said, checking the scanner again. "Be mindful of the gears though. We can't afford to get injured before we can get to the vault and Neera."

Carol nodded. "Got it. Avoid the gears and get to the vault." She said, taking the lead to the vent cover across the large space of the mechanical courtyard. The wildcat moved quickly, diving behind another wall, then motioning for the other two to follow. Tails and Milla made a break across the open space and met Carol back on the other side of the area. "This the vent?"

Tails nodded. "Let's get this thing off." Carol nodded, extended her claws and prying the vent cover off. She set it to the side and began crawling through the vent, followed by Tails, and lastly Milla. "Alright, at the intersection, we need to head through the left vent, then take the dropoff there and get into the sublevels of the generator housing."

"Right," Carol spoke. "And I'll be more than happy to lay some hurt on these bolts-for-brains for what they did!" Angered thoughts raced through her mind as she crawled through the vents, against Eggman, against the robotic Neera...

"H-hey, guys?" Milla asked. "What's that beeping?" Tails eyes widened at Milla's comment, then looked to see a starfish-shaped Badnik right on the vent covering underneath them. Tails gasped but it was too late; the Badnik exploded, destroying the vent below them, causing the three to land in a pile in the green metallic hallway. Dazed, Tails put his hands on the floor and tried to lift himself up while Milla was still on his back.

' _Why...does this floor feel soft...?_ ' Tails thought to himself as his vision cleared. He soon found his hand was not on the floor, but one of his hands was while the other was on the left side of Carol's chest. Carol and Tails looked at eachother awkwardly, a violent blush on eachothers faces before Carol spoke.

"Well Tails," She said. "Never thought you'd stoop to that level!" Tails panicked and took his hand off her chest, the three of them getting up. "So, with that plan out of commission, where are we supposed to go now?"

"We'll have to improvise," Tails said, checking the scanner. "We can still reach the generator room from around these halls. We need to stick close though; Neera's got the robots running around the entire place."

"W-well, why are we waiting?" Milla timidly asked. "Shouldn't we get moving to, uh, avoid the bad guys?"

Tails nodded. "We need to move. The longer we wait, the more likely Neera's gonna get the jump on us." The other two nodded, then took down the halls of the generator housing...

* * *

"Yes, this is looking promising." Neera spoke to herself as she monitored the cameras. "Everything is going to Master Robotnik's plan. Once the new station is complete, the Chaos Energy will be harnessed to keep these rebel scum from ever stopping us." She smiled to herself as she spoke of the plans. "And unlike that robotic copy of that hedgehog, he will be most pleased with me for my best efforts of preserving this place..." She then noticed something out of the corner of her optics, one of the security cameras picking up movement, a notable flash of orange. "Hmph, so the rebellious insubordinates have decided to show up. Well then..." She paused as large clanking metal footsteps came up from behind her.

"They are going to be in for a rude awakening..."

* * *

"How much further?" Carol asked the kitsune. "The vault and the killswitch for the generator can't be that far away, can they?"

"They're right nearby, just keep moving!" Tails said. "We're getting close to the generator room, but that means it'll be heavily guarded! Keep your focus!"

Carol nodded. "As if I'm gonna let some tin cans get the better of me!" She said, cracking a grin. "Let's get this thing shut down!" Soon the three entered into the large room that housed the generator, large amounts of electricity crackling off it from its massive power output. "Where's the killswitch on this thing?"

"Killswitch is located on the console." Tails said, checking the scanner. "It's code-encrypted though. I need a minute to decode it, so cover for me."

Carol nodded. "I don't know if anyone's coming in, but I got your back!" The wildcat said, extending her claws.

"We're with you all the way!" Milla said, raising a shield.

Tails smiled. "I know I can count of your two." He said, turning to the console and started typing away. It wasn't for long as soon large, heavy metal footsteps sounded from behind them, and out of the shadows was a robotic mantis, nearly two stories high, large scythes and a bright metallic green coloring. Standing on top the large mantis robot was none other than the roboticized panda priestess, Neera-Li. Carol gritted her teeth at the sight of the ally turned traitor.

"Well, if it isn't none other than the unwholesome brats that decided to pull a jailbreak stunt back over in Neo ScrapBrain." Neera's cold, robotic voice cooed, seemingly taunting the trio. "Your timing is more than impeccable. I was looking for something to test out the new War Slicer against. And it seems I have two little test subjects ripe for the bleeding..."

"Get real Neera!" Carol yelled. "Just give up now and let us turn you normal again!"

Neera laughed at the remark of the wildcat. "Oh, such a naive girl..." She chuckled. "You'll regret trying to fight this!" With that, she lept up to a balcony above the trio and gave the command. "War Slicer, offensive programming activate!"

* * *

The loud roar from the giant mantis deafened the area as Carol and Milla engaged the War Slicer. The large scythes of the bot we soon launched, spinning and slicing through the air. Carol and Milla ducked, the blades coming within inches of them before they returned to the titan robot itself. Carol quickly dashed as soon as its defenses went down and lept up the right side of it, slashing at its left optic sensor before being smashed backwards from an ice blast from Neera. Carol hit the ground hard and cartwheeled backwards before getting up, and angered look on her face.

"Hey, what's the big idea?!" Carol yelled at the robotic Neera. "That's interfering with the battle!"

"Well, I'm not merely just going to sit aside and watch this creation be destroyed, now would I?" Neera spoke. "Just something to give you a bit of challenge."

"Challenge my claws!" Carol growled, her claws glinting off the light in the room. "Either stay out of this until this thing is dead, or I'm coming for you!"

"Hmph, we'll see about that." Neera said. The gigantic Slicer then proceeded to slash at the wildcat, cutting into the ground of the facility. Carol dodged, but Milla ran up the arm of the War Slicer and created an orange Phantom Block, firing off a powered-up Super Shield Burst, snapping the head of the mechanical beast sideways and launching the basset hound into the ceiling, before she grabbed onto a light fixture above, forming another Phantom Block in her hand. "Carol! I need some help here!"

"Got it!" Carol said, running in front of the giant mantis. "Hey! Bugs-for-brains! Over here!" She taunted at the robot. The War Slicer brought both of its scythes up and slammed them down into the ground. Carol dodged out of the way, causing the robot to get them stuck in the steel floor. Milla lept off the light fixture and activated another Super Shield Burst, slamming the head again and launching the basset sideways before she landed on the floor. Carol then dashed up the back of the robot and performed a Wild Kick on its optic sensors, smashing one of them to pieces. "How do ya like that, ya overgrown bug?!"

 _'Well, at least they're keeping that thing busy..'_ Tails thought to himself, madly typing away at the keyboard. _'I just need a bit more to try and get through...'_ His heart stopped as he felt a sharp point touch him in the back of the neck. He didn't even get a chance to gasp as soon he was frozen in a block of ice; Neera stood behind him, a metaphorical sadistic grin on her face as she picked up the frozen fox and threw him away from the console, slamming him against the wall before the ice block hit the floor hard. Carol saw this and her anger got the better of her, lunging at the robot panda before receiving a sharp, slinging blow to the side of her face before Neera lept back up to the ledge. The War Slicer then lept forward, ready to plunge its scythes straight into Carol.

"NO!" Milla cried, leaping in front of Carol with a Phantom Block. She quickly expanded it into a thick green shield, blocking Carol from attack as the scythes hit the shield, causing several cracks to appear within it. Milla struggled to keep her composure as the scythes bashed again against the shield, creating more and more cracks into the shield. Milla tried to keep her powers under control, evident from the trail of blood running down her face from her nose, but with one final swing, the War Slicer broke the shield, and the mental strain from the shatter was too much for her to handle. Milla collapsed to the floor, and Carol quickly grabbed her and fled away from the War Slicer before it brought its scythes down again. The wildcat laid the basset down next to the frozen Tails before returning to the fight, rushing up the arm of the bot before slamming another Wild Kick into its other optic sensor, shattering it completely.

Now confused the War Slicer started flailing around frantically, trying to hit the wildcat that wasn't there. With a quick slam and a sharp series of Wild Claws, Carol tore through the titanic Slicer, ripping it to shreds as soon the War Slicer fell to the ground, its circuitry fried and rendering it inoperable. Carol smiled to herself as she admired her handiwork, destroying the War Slicer, but she knew she wasn't done. She then turned her attention to Neera, who was giving a slow clap...

"Well, well, I must say," The robotic Neera cooed. "I am rather impressed with your fighting abilities, taking down the War Slicer with little effort."

"Save the gloating for later!" Carol growled, her claws still extended. "I'm not finished with you! I'll make sure you hurt for what you did to Tails!"

"Hmph, that's cute, you know that?" Neera said, leaping down to her level. "I don't think you know what you're dealing with, you naive child." She said, the energy from her Ice Sceptre crackling. "You see Master Robotnik's powers have made me far stronger than the moot bots you've been fighting. Disposing of you..." She said, charging up before rocketing forward at the wildcat. "Will be child's play!"

* * *

With the speed that Neera had shot forward, Carol had no time to react as she was soon whacked across the face with Neera's sceptre. Carol regained her composure as she was flung back and flipped around to launch herself off the wall and make a mad dash for Neera, claws extended. The robotic panda flipped over the wildcat and attempted to deliver a smashing roundhouse kick to Carol, but the wildcat had seen this coming and quickly dodged out of the way, countering Neera with a Wild Claw straight to the face. Neera flinched before getting the upper hand on Carol and delivering a blow to her face, causing the wildcat to grip at her nose in pain before Neera delivered a kick straight to her cheek, knocking the wind out of her. Carol lay on the ground, gasping for air as Neera strode up and wrapped on of her metal hands around the wildcat's neck, hoisting her off the ground and leaving her feet dangling.

"Well, such a half-hearted attempt by the insubordinate pest." Neera spoke, keeping her grip tight as Carol struggled for air. "And here I thought you would be more of a challenge.."

"I...is that... a-all y-y-ya go-ot?!" Carol choked out, struggling to use her hands to break free of Neera's grasp.

"As a matter of fact..." Neera said, tightening her grip on the wildcat's neck, causing Carol to cry out more in pain and thrash about even more. "Oh, I'm sorry, too much pressure?"

 _"Th-this is bad!"_ Carol thought to herself. _"She's gonna choke me out! C'mon Carol, use your instincts!"_ Quickly acting, Carol bit down hard into Neera's metallic hand, causing Neera to flinch in pain and release Carol, who fell to her hands and knees, gasping heavily for breath.

"Why you little...!" Neera growled before clocking Carol straight across the face with a nasty punch. Carol flipped backwards and landed on her feet before bending backwards, dodging a swipe from Neera using her sceptre, before kicking out the panda's legs from under her with a sweep. Carol then lept back before Neera took a swing at her, and immediately countered with another Wild Claw. Neera grabbed her hand and flipped the wildcat over her head, slamming her into the ground. Carol got back up and slammed into Neera, tackling her to the ground and swiping at her face before Neera caught one of her hands and drove her other fist into the wildcat's gut. Carol gasped in pain as she held her stomach, just in time for Neera to smash a kick right into the side of the wildcat's head. Carol fell to the ground, pain coursing throughout her entire skull as Neera put a foot on her chest, holding the wildcat down while she froze her hands down.

"There we go..." Neera growled, keeping the wildcat down, pointing the sceptre straight at Carol's face. "Now you're finished... any last words before you're an ice statue?"

Carol was sweating bullets; Neera was overpowering her at an alarming rate, and if she didn't find some way to get Neera down fast, she'd be dead! Her eyes frantically darted around the room, looking for anything that could help her turn the tide of this battle. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a small glint of green inside the scrapped War Slicer. If that was what she thought it was...

Carol mustered what little energy she had and slammed both of her feet into the back of the robotic panda, knocking her off and away from her. Carol quickly broke her hands out of the ice and made a mad dash for the glint in the scrap pile.

"NO!" Neera shrieked, giving an immediate pursuit to catch the wildcat. However, she was too late. Carol dove into the scrap pile and grabbed exactly what she thought it was; a Chaos Emerald. Seems like the old doc was using an Emerald to power his giant mech. Luckily for Carol, she needed it the most; she turned to face Neera again, a lot more confidence in her system than before as the robot glared angrily at her.

"You insolent worm!" The robotic panda growled. "Now look what you've done! You've ruined everything that the master had planned!"

"Hmph, like I care!" Carol growled. "Neera, I don't care anymore! I just want you out of the way!" The Chaos Emerald was already pulsating energy, coursing its destructive power through Carol's veins. Carol's eyes glowed a ghastly green as she stared down the metallic panda, anger boiling up inside her. "I don't give a damn who you serve anymore! No one hurts my FRIENDS!" With that, Carol shot forward at an incredible speed, slamming into Neera and pinning her against the wall, constantly beating into Neera with her own fists.

"This is for Milla!" She yelled, slamming her right fist into the side of Neera's head. "This is for Lilac!" She yelled, slamming her other fist into the other side of Neera's head. "AND THIS ONE'S FOR TAILS!" She cried, bringing both her fists together and slamming them into Neera's head. Neera shrieked in pain before slumping to the floor, unconscious. Carol stood up, panting heavily before rushing over to where Tails and Milla were. Tails had already thawed out at this point, and Milla was just starting to regain consciousness.

"Hey, Ruff stuff. You alright?" Milla said, helping the bloodied hound up. Milla weakly nodded, getting to her feet.

"I-I should be fine.." Milla spoke, getting to her feet. "J-just a bit shaken up, nothing serious..."

"Okay," Carol said, grabbing the deroboticizer gun and the scanner off of the unconscious Tails. "Take this and get Neera out of that metal shell before she gets back up. I'll get back to hacking into that computer and shutting down the generator."

Milla nodded, looking uneasily at the large gun in her hands. Carol walked over and started to check the generator, trying to shut it down, while Milla, shaking, took the deroboticizer and walked over to the unconscious Neera. Hesitantly, she pointed the gun at Neera, and pulled the trigger, releasing a beam and hitting Neera with it. The white light blinded the young basset as the beam covered the robotic panda, slowly turning the robotic panda back into the normal self she was before. Milla held her breath until the process had finished, the torn panda priestess lying on the floor, back to normal. The panda groaned in pain as she got up, looking around the area. "N-Neera?" Milla choked out, nervous about if the device had worked or not."Are... are you okay?"

"I...I think so..." Neera said, slowly getting to her feet. "I-I'm a bit shaken up... gods, that felt like a nightmare... I couldn't control myself, it was like I was forced to watch myself as I could do nothing..."

"Well, look at it this way," Carol said from the console. "At least you're not serving that fat mustachioed monkey anymore. And we're getting back the Chaos Emeralds from here to boot."

"I...I suppose that is for...for the better..." Neera breathed, leaning on her sceptre for support. "At...least we get the satisfaction...of knowing that he'll fail.."

"M-Miss Neera, please be careful..." Milla said uneasily. "You need to rest..."

"I-I'll be fine.." Neera spoke, hobbling forward with her sceptre as support. "We just need to get out of here..."

"Alright... aaaaand..." Carol muttered to herself, finishing up with a few more keystrokes. "There we go!" With that, the generator stopped and shut down, the lights dying and everything shutting down, the only light coming from the Chaos Emerald itself. "Heh, good thing Tails' scanner makes hacking easy. Otherwise I might have been stuck here for a while."

"So... that's it?" Milla said. "A-are we done here?"

"Easy there, Ruff Stuff." Carol said, walking over to Tails and lifting the kitsune over her shoulder. "We've still got a Chaos Emerald to get here. THEN we can get outta here."

"The emerald..." Neera spoke. "From what I remember, the generator is linked to the vault's security system here. I know where the vault is."

"Wait..." Carol said, suspicious of the panda. "How would you know where the vault is?"

"I can remember from my time while I was roboticized." Neera spoke. "I can lead you to it..."

"Then lead the way." Carol said. Neera guided the three away from the generator room...

* * *

"So, this is the vault?" Carol said, looking up at the gigantic steel door. "Gotta admit, it looks pretty secure. You have any idea how we're gettin' into this?"

"It should be easy enough to get through." Neera spoke, limping over to the door, punching in dome sort of code into the keypad. Pressure released from the door as the metal slab opened up from the wall, showing the massive amount of treasure inside, and a large cage attached to the ceiling. Neera saw the figure inside the cage, and the familiarness of him was to blatant to ignore.

"D-Dail!" Neera cried. "A-are you alright?!"

"Well, aside from the fact I am currently stuck in a cage to the ceiling inside my own vault, perfectly fine!" Dail said. "A little help getting down from here?"

"Hold on Kingsy! I gotcha!" Carol said, setting Tails down before leaping up the wall before lunging at the cage, knocking it off of its hanging fixture and was brought crashing to the ground. "Sorry about the rough landing. Kinda pressed for time right now."

"Understandable," Dail said, dusting himself off. "Now then, I believe a reclaiming of our kingdom is in order."

Neera nodded. "Please, your Majesty allow me to help you in this."

"Well, considering it's you, Neera," Dail spoke. "You don't need to ask for permission."

"Well, then we're about wrapped up here." Carol said. "We just need that other Chaos Emerald that's here and we'll get out."

"Ah, yes, the gem that that maniacal madman locked in here with me." Dail said, walking to the back of the vault. "He locked up the gem in here with me when I was moved. He planned accordingly and had me up in that cell so I was unable to get it."

"Well, he didn't count on us breaking in and trashing the joint!" Carol said, cracking her knuckles. "We had a lot of fun with this one."

"Well, either way," Neera said, taking the lavender gemstone from Dail and handing it to the wildcat. "We will take care of things from here. You should head home and get rested."

Milla nodded. "We will Miss Neera!" She piped. "C'mon Carol! We need to get back to Lilac!"

"Right." Carol said, taking the emerald from Neera. "And let's get Tails back home to heal up..."

Milla nodded. The two turned, an unconscious kitsune and two Chaos Emeralds in their possession...

* * *

"Hey, Lilac, you okay?" Sonic asked, walking out of the treehouse. Lilac looked over her shoulder from where she was sitting on the small deck of the treehouse.

"Yeah..." She said. "It's just... I'm worried about Carol and Milla. It's been almost five hours and they still haven't returned yet..." The draconian sighed, looking down at the ground below. "I know it's a large distance from here to Shuigang, but the fact they haven't returned sooner is eating away at me."

"Well hey, they're probably exhausted after that long heist they just pulled off!" Sonic said, looking out over the valley, noting the lack of lights in the east. "The lights are already down over off in the direction of Shuigang. They're probably on their way here right now."

"I hope..." Lilac said, looking out towards the roboticized Shang Tu. "After this, we've got Shang Tu to take care of... and, I'll be honest, I'm a little worried about the entire thing right now. We've got an entire world sitting on our shoulders right now, and it's all dependent on whether or not we can get the Chaos Emeralds back or not, and if they get back before Eggman's goons find them."

"Hey, I'm confident they can!" Sonic said. "In fact, isn't that them right now?" Lilac looked out in the direction Sonic had pointed, and saw Carol, carrying Tails over her shoulders, and Milla, clutching to the two Chaos Emeralds, walking back to the treehouse.

"Yeah, that's them.." Lilac said, a small smile starting to grow on her face. "And it looks like they got the Chaos Emeralds too."

"Well, that's good." Sonic said, getting up and waving to the two. "Hey guys! How'd it go?"

Carol flashed a thumbs-up. "Everything went well! We didn't have everything go to plan, but we still got the emeralds just as fine! AND Shuigang's been shut down, so Shang Tu's ain't gettin' any more power!"

"Well, that's a relief." Lilac sighed, noticing the unconscious Tails on the wildcat's shoulders. "Wh-what happened to Tails?"

"Like I said, everythin' didn't go to plan." Carol said. "We kinda had a run in with Neera and, well, things didn't get pretty. Either way, I finished her off, Milla deroboticized her, we shut the generator down, and got the Chaos Emeralds."

"Here they are Mr. Sonic!" Milla said, handing Sonic the green and lavender gemstones.

"Heh, thanks kid," Sonic said, rubbing the basset hound's head. Milla giggled before rushing into the treehouse, leaving Sonic and Lilac with Carol and an unconscious Tails. "So, how's bad is he banged up?"

"Just a bit frosty.." Carol said, bringing the kitsune in and setting him down on the couch. "He got hit pretty hard by Neera's ice energy, but other than that, he was in an ice block the entire time while I fought with Neera, so he's not damaged.. I'll make him some healing tea. Can I get you guys anything while I'm at it?"

"Nah, I'm good." Sonic said. "Lilac, let's... give these two some space, shall we?" Lilac nodded before the two left outside, leaving the two together...

* * *

An aromatic scent wafted under the kitsune's nose as it twitched slightly, bringing the two-tailed fox back to reality. Slowly his vision cleared to see he was lying on the couch inside Lilac's treehouse, a cup of tea sitting on the table near him. Tails sat up, his body aching as he tried to stretch, and reached for the cup on the table and took a sip.

"So, how do you like it?" A voice spoke. Tails looked over to his side to see Carol sitting on the couch next to him, a concerned look on her face.

The kitsune nodded. "Yeah...thanks." He said, taking another sip. "So... we won?"

Carol nodded, a small smile on her face. "Neera was stopped, the generator was shut down, and we got the emeralds back. We've only got Shang Tu left."

"Good." Tails said, taking another sip of the tea, feeling better. "Shang Tu's now gonna be heavily defensive since we pulled that jailbreak stunt, and those two emeralds we have left are gonna be extremely difficult to get. Not to mention Gong's gonna be enraged once he sees us come back for the emeralds, and chances are, thanks to Eggman, he won't hesitate to kill us." Carol swallowed hard at that statement. "All of us are going to need to focus for this upcoming raid. Otherwise, we're not making it to Eggman's base."

"Yeah..." Carol breathed, her tail brushing up against Tails arm.

"Huh?" Tails said, noticing Carol's tail. "You okay?"

"Y-yeah.." Carol said, Tails noticing a distinctive tear in her eye.

"You're not telling me something..." Tails said, setting his tea down on the table. "What's wrong?"

"I-it's nothing.." Carol said, turning her head away from the kitsune, wiping away the tear from her eye. "I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"YES!" Carol yelled, agitated. Tails seemed to back off a bit before Carol pinched her forehead, sighing loudly. Tails put an arm on her shoulder to try and comfort her, and the wildcat turned to look at him.

"Listen Carol," Tails said. "We're still alive. And we're going to get through this, all of us. I can promise as best I can."

"I understand that... but..." Carol spoke, looking down at the floor, murmuring to herself. "Just... just nothing..."

"Hey, cheer up now." Tails said. "We're getting Eggman on the run now, and I can guarantee that he'll be running like mad once we go after the Death Egg!"

A small smile started to grow on Carol's face. "You think so?"

Tails nodded. "I do. Now, let's get that wildcat spunk back in action!"

Carol giggled before that cocky grin she wore was on her face again. "Ya got that right Tailsy!"

"That's the wildcat I know!" Tails said. "Now then, I'm gonna need a little bit of help getting the plan constructed. You wanna help?"

"Oh hell yeah I wanna help!" Carol said, hopping up from the couch. Let's get this plan in progress!"

* * *

 **With the success of the attack on Shuigang hitting all targets, Tails and Carol now plans for the group's most dangerous raid yet. Let's not forget about the jailbreak stunt they pulled that would have raised security, and Eggman no doubt would want to see the group dead so he can reclaim the gems once again. With tensions running high and still a roboticized Gong to deal with, join our heroes for the next chapter when they begin, "A Shang Tu Finale"...**


	9. Chapter 8: A Shang Tu Finale

**_..._**

 ** _Sonic and Lilac: Tides of Chaos  
Act 2_**

 _Chapter 8: A Shang Tu Finale_

"Well guys, the stakes have never been higher for this mission." Tails said as he activated the holographic map, showing Shang Tu. Nearly several hours have passed since the raid in Shuigang, and while most of the group was preparing for the raid in general, Tails and Carol were busy working on the plan to infiltrate Shang Tu. Now the entire plan was coming together, and things were starting to look up. "It's time to raid Shang Tu."

"About time." Spade spoke, his arms crossed as he was leaning against a wall. "I was getting bored of 'playing around' with our new cat friend." Neige merely rolled her eyes at the comment.

"Well, it took a lot of planing to make sure this goes off safely," Carol said, shooting Spade a glare. "I bet you're gonna say you could've come up with it faster, aren't you?"

Spade rolled his eyes. "Look, I didn't come here to trade petty insults. Just give us the damn mission."

"Fine." Tails said. "It'll take at least a couple hours if we go along this route through Jade Creek." Tails said, motioning his finger along the base area of the mountain where Shang Tu was located. "But this way we can at least get there undetected by a lot of the security measures taken near the surrounding areas. Carol was thankfully able to tell me that the previous hideout of the Scarves was located near the bottom of the mountain, with tunnels leading up into the city itself. Now," Tails said, noting of the map of the factory area. "Eggman's got his entire Badnik army produced here, which is what we need to shut down before we get at the Chaos Emeralds. Once that's done, and from the reports that you guys told me, it would seem that the Magister would be locked up inside here somewhere with the emeralds as well."

"We're gonna need two teams for this." Carol said. "Tails already told me that he, Sonic and Neige are Team 1. "They're gonna create a large distraction to lure attention away from Team 2, consisting of myself, Lilac, Milla and Spade, for us to run in and get after the emeralds."

"However, we need to remember that Gong is still roboticized in Shang Tu." Tails said. "And he's not under his own will while he's roboticized. Since Carol found out the... hard way, I'll re-iterate it. A roboticized person needs to be in a weakened state before the de-roboticizer can do anything to them, otherwise the the target will go under extreme physical pain or possible death. We can only guarantee their safety by knocking them unconscious before de-roboticizing."

"Well, this doesn't seem like too big a problem." Sonic said. "All we gotta do is cause a massive ruckus to explode everything while Lilac and her co. sneak in and get the emeralds. Easy."

"Well, considering the security systems that they're taking, it's gonna be anything BUT." Tails said. "We're taking a HUGE risk going now as is. The only reason we're going now is because of a time crunch if we want to stop Eggman before REAL damage is done."

"Agreed," Lilac spoke, crossing her arms. "and considering that Eggman has the Kingdom Energy under his belt now, we may not have much time before Avalice goes under."

"Right." Carol said. "We know what our duties are, let's get moving before damage is done and Eggman has a chance to release something that could jeopardize the entire planet."

All nodded in agreement, then went out of the treehouse and began the long trek to Shang Tu...

* * *

 _Neo ScrapBrain: Former Shang Tu..._

"Yeah doc, production kinda slowed down a bit since we lost power." The metallic Gong said through the transmitter to Eggman. "Good thinkin' of providing a backup generator just in case Neo Metropolis went down, am I right?"

"Yes, well, I hope you REALIZE why that is," Eggman's voice grated over the transmitter. "Considering I've lost BOTH bases, three of my six Chaos Emeralds, AND my newest top general for the empire. Needless to say, I am very miffed right now, and the last thing I need is for my army factories to go down!"

"Eh, don't worry doc, we're gonna have everythin' here under control here." Gong said.

"Well, I'm not risking anything at this point." Eggman spoke. "I'm sending Syntax down there to assist with the defenses. Make ABSOLUTELY SURE that no one gets in. PERIOD."

"You got it, boss." Gong said, saluting. "Those little insubordinates try to get in here, they're in for a bad time."

"Good." Eggman spoke. "I've got some more work to do integrating this Kingdom Energy into my ultimate project right now, and the Death Egg is nearing completion. With the factories on the ground here, we can nearly triple the size of my army by the time the station is complete. HOLD YOUR POSITION." Gong nodded.

"Good, I see we can agree on this." Eggman said. "Syntax should be arriving shortly. Either way, I will contact again once those meddlesome pests are taken care of." With that, Eggman ended the transmission, just as the green-tinted squid bot teleported into the room.

"Greetings general," Syntax spoke in her robotic voice. "I assume you are in need of assistance?"

"Well, considering the doc sent you down here, I've got no choice." Gong spoke, his metal feet plodding across the floor. "I need you down below to guard out prisoner and the emeralds. We can't afford to have the rebels come in and trash the joint." Syntax seemed to make a motion to nod, but Gong couldn't really tell. "Don't know what the hell that motion is, but I assume that means you agree with me."

"Affirmative." Syntax spoke, before floating out of the room. Gong turned his attention back to the bank of the monitors, looking over all of them. "We're waiting for you, hedgehog..."

* * *

 _Jade Creek, several hours after leaving..._

"My god... I forgot how much of a hike it is to get to Shang Tu from the treehouse!" Carol said as the group traveled along the creek. "You'd think there'd be a boat system or something that he'd have moving resources along here!"

"Well, we can't complain now!" Sonic said. "Yo, Tails! How much closer are we to Shang Tu?"

"We're still a good fifteen miles away from the base of the old Scarves hideout!" Tails said.

"Fifteen MILES?!" Carol yelled. "See, THIS is why I would think bringing my bike is a good idea!"

"Carol..." Lilac muttered to herself.

"Yeah, bring your bike, then see how many robots we get on our ass from the sound of your exhaust!" Spade growled, keeping a light pace ahead of the rest of the group. "Let's just keep moving! With any luck, we'll be at the old hideout by noon."

"NOON?!" Carol yelled. "I'm the one who has to keep Milla on my back! I can't run with her the entire way there!"

"What, you want to have me carry her?" Sonic asked.

"Hey, be my guest!" Carol said, running up close to Sonic. Milla took the initiative and lept onto Sonic's back, the hedgehog having a smirk appear on his face. "Ready for a ride, kiddo?"

"A ride?" Milla asked. Sonic smirked before he blasted off, running across the water and breaking the sound barrier. Tails sweatdropped as the two took off on the run.

"You CAN'T be serious..." Tails muttered to himself. "So much for stealth..."

"Aw, let the kid have some fun for once." Spade said. "After all, with the hell she's been through last year, I think she's in need of a bit of cheering up."

"I guess..." Tails said, watching Sonic dashing across the water with Milla on his back, a happy look on her face.

"After all, she's having fun, let her be with it." Neige spoke, keeping her pace with the group. "Besides, we still have a ways to go to Shang Tu."

"WHEEEEHEHEHEE!" Milla squealed from the back of Sonic as the blue hedgehog dashed across the water in the same vicinity of the group. "This is so much fun!"

"Heh, you like that?" Sonic said, a smirk on his face. "Well, hold on!" Sonic said, before dashing forward again and running up a bamboo stalk of the bamboo forest. Milla's eyes widened and she squealed in surprise and joy as she rode on Sonic's back up the gigantic stalk. As soon as he had nearly hit the top he lept off of the stalk and began freefalling with the young puppy on his back. Milla squealed in a combination of fear and delight as Sonic sped through the air towards the ground. "You havin' fun back there?"

"This is SOOOOOO COOL!" Milla squealed, holding onto Sonic. "Not even Lilac could go this fast!"

"Heh, glad you're liking the ride!" Sonic said, speeding towards the ground. "Hold on now, this is gonna get bumpy!" Sonic controlled his movement to lean in towards one of the other bamboo stalks before getting his feet onto the stalk and started running down it towards the ground, keeping his momentum up before striking the ground and dashing up to the others. Milla's orange frazzled hair covered part of her eyes as Sonic ran back up with the others. "So, enjoyed the ride?"

"That. Was. Soooo COOL!" Milla said, her eyes sparkling. The young basset kept talking on about Sonic while Lilac and Carol watched a bit, and a small smile grew on Lilac's face with the excessive amounts of happiness that Milla was showing towards Sonic. The group continued onward towards Shang Tu...

* * *

 _Abandonded Scarves hideout, several hours later..._

"Sweet baby dragons..." Carol said, collapsing to her knees, out of breath. "Why did the hideout have to be on the near opposite side of Shang Tu..."

"To keep the feds from checking back here," Spade said, panting, leaning against an outer wall. "'sides, Shang Tu's officials would've never thought to look in abandoned military base."

"True.." Lilac panted, holding propping her hands on her knees for support. "Only Carol knew where this place was..."

"Which is why we had to relocate," Spade growled. "Either way, let's get this over with."

"Nuh-uh." Carol said, collapsing next to a rock. "There's no way in HELL you're making me go in there like this. I'm nappin'. Wake me up when we're goin' in."

"We're not wasting time furball!" Spade growled.

"Spade, just let her be." Lilac spoke, looking up to see the sun now resting on the horizon. "Besides, we're already a few hours behind of when we were supposed to get here, we might as well make camp here before we start the raid."

"Y'know, as much as I wanna wreck some of Egghead's production line, I'm agreeing with Lilac on this one." Sonic said, the basset sleeping on his back. "Let's get some rest before we head out."

"Yeah..." Tails said, sitting down next to the resting Carol. "Let's just get some shut-eye..."

* * *

Night soon fell over Avalice as the renegade group rested near the base of the abandoned base. A small fire roared near the group as many of them rested; Carol was propped up back against a rock, leaning on Tails, who was, in turn, leaning on her. Spade was resting on a tree branch while Neige was asleep on the ground below the tree. Sonic and Lilac were the only two still awake, with the sleeping Milla resting her head on Sonic's lap, with Lilac sitting next to the hedgehog.

"The girl's got a lot of energy." Sonic said, rubbing the vibrant orange hair on the basset's head. "She's been like this before?"

"Only when she's really happy." Lilac said, looking over at Milla. "Other than that, she's sometimes a bit shy, and maybe a bit distant at times."

"Well, she just seems like your bundle of joy." Sonic said. "You just want her to be happy?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Lilac spoke, looking up to see the large moon hanging in the sky. "From what I've known from her, she really hasn't had a past to begin with. Which is why I mostly took her in when we first met."

"No past?" Sonic asked. "Well, she seems to be growing up with the right group."

"Heh, well, clearly you haven't heard of my past before." Lilac said, leaning back. "Spade and I grew up on the streets of Shuigang. You could say we were among the 'runts of the litter', so to speak. Spade was considered a bastard son to the throne, and me? I never knew my father, and my mother became deathly ill when I was about seven or so. Doctors only gave her a few months to live, and after she died, I had nowhere else to go. Spade and I originally caused trouble around Shuigang when we were kids, then Spade learned about the Scarves and left to join them, but not before asking me if I wanted to come with him. I said no at first, but after realizing that I couldn't survive in Shuigang by myself, not to mention I had a target on my back for all the chaos Spade and I caused when we lived there, I fled Shuigang and joined up with the Scarves."

"Sounds like you had a rough childhood." Sonic spoke. "What about Carol? How'd you meet her?"

"Well..." Lilac started. "When I was still relatively new in the Scarves, I was more or less a 'delivery girl', so to say. Basically, I was one of the runners to get supplies for the group. That was when I first met Carol." She said, looking over to the slumbering wildcat. "She was left in one alley in Shang Tu by the Scarves after abandoning a job, causing one of the big name Scarves' sister to get arrested. Needless to say, once that section of the Scarves caught wind that I was helping her after being 'abandoned' we were... beaten, to put short. No one knew about this for almost a month... that is, until Spade and the Head Scarf caught wind of what was going on. Needless to say, Carol and I were put under... 'special protection' by the Head Scarf's watch, me moreso than Carol, and the ones who attacked us? Promptly exiled."

"Sounds like chaos from your end." Sonic said, stroking the young basset's head.

"No kiddin'." Lilac said. "The three of us have had it rough, though it got easier after we stopped Brevon."

"Heh, I would've though." Sonic said. "Well, what about Milla?"

"I don't know much about her past at all. The only thing she ever told us was that she's been looking for her parents." Lilac said. "Other than that, we're the only family she's got."

"And that's why you're so defensive of her?"

"Well, it's that... and something that happened last year..." Lilac said. "Like I've said before, I...don't wanna talk about it.."

"Hey, if you don't wanna, it's fine by me." Sonic said, leaning back. "Either way, should we wake the others up?"

"...maybe we should let them be for know.." Lilac said, letting out a small yawn. "We should probably rest too."

"Yeah..." Sonic said, leaning back. "Let's get some shut eye..."

* * *

The wildcat stirred a bit before her eyes opened, looking up to see the large moon in the sky, directly overhead where they were. She rubbed her eyes a bit before looking next to her, seeing the young kitsune sleeping peacefully, and Carol grabbed his shoulder and lightly shook the kitsune.

"Hey, Tailsy," Carol said. "You awake?"

"Ugnh... I am now.." Tails said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "What'd you wake me up for?"

"Sorry.." Carol said, sitting back. "Just thinking a bit... you think now is a good time for the raid?"

"Why now?"

"It's late night. They won't expect an attack in the dark." Carol said.

"Let's give it a bit." Tails said, sitting up. "Let the others get some sleep."

"I guess..." Carol said, looking up at the moon in the cold sky. "We've come a long way, huh?"

"Yeah," Tails said, bringing his tails close to him to keep warm.

"Two separate worlds, a giant action-filled adventure, meeting people like us... damn, my sis would be jealous of me if she ever caught wind."

"Sister?"

"Yeah.." Carol sighed. "I looked up to her when I was young."

"What was she like?"

"Oh, my sister. Was. AWESOME." Carol said. "I come from a family that has a long history in ninja techniques and stealth, always sticking to the shadows. My sis, Coral, was the greatest thing to come out of our family, as my mother would say; mastering stealth off the back of her hand like it was nothin'. She was my idol, and I looked up to her when I was young, though it wasn't always like that. I was more or less, the 'misfit' of the family, the screw-up, so to speak, and I was REALLY jealous of her when I was young. She was more agile, a smarter planner, and a HELL of a better fighter than I was back then. It honestly got to the point where I was so jealous, I basically lashed out at her childishly, and called her some nasty things... I still feel like a fool for blowing up on her like that."

"Man.. you've had it rough in your childhood." Tails said, looking down at the ground.

"Heh, yeah..." Carol said, looking at the sky. "But instead of getting mad at me, she actually felt sorry for me, and she made me a promise that day. She promised she'd train me up to be as good if not better than her. Nearly every day, we'd head out into a secret section of the woods and train in private, her showing me the ropes of the basics and steadily getting better... that is, until our mother found out about Coral trying to train me. She has this policy saying that 'we need to learn this stuff ourselves' kind of BS, and she threw me out of the family because of it."

"Your own mother threw you out of your family?"

"You're damn right she did." Carol said. "But Coral and I were tight; she argued with mom for a bit before she decided to just leave the family, and took me with her. It wasn't long before we joined the Scarves and Coral rose through the ranks to become one of the top Scarves. She still taught me, but I was still more or less the screw-up of the Scarves, though Coral actually came to my defense every time. Until that one time where she got no word of what happened..."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, during one of the jobs I was put on, I got scared and fled when the operation went south, causing one of the Scarves' sister to get arrested. Head Scarf never caught wind of it, so I was beaten and thrown out of the Scarves. That was when I met Lilac, and we became friends. Eventually the Head Scarf and Spade caught wind of what happened, and Lilac and I were put under 'special protection', not to mention my sister eventually caught wind of it and started to get protective of me, and since she was high-ranking, no one wanted to mess with her. This went on for a few years... until..."

"Until what?" Tails asked, noticing Carol face falling.

"She was assigned a special mission outside of the three kingdoms. She was accompanied by Spade to pull off this mission, but... she never came back..." She said, tears starting to well up in her eyes. "Spade was the only one to come back from the mission, no sign of my sister at all... The details of the operations were classified, and we weren't allowed to know a THING of what happened. It was that, and a combination of what happened with one of Spade's raids where he killed people, that had Lilac and I cut our ties with the Scarves. I still have that gift she gave me before she left on that mission.."

"What was it?"

"Her katana." Carol said. "I left it back at the treehouse. It's the only thing I have left to remind me of her. Whenever I get really stressed out or depressed, I usually just take her blade, head out into the woods behind the treehouse, and just take out my anger on some trees. It... helps me relieve stress a bit, and it reminds me of the times when I still had her... whether she's still alive or not now, I don't know."

"Sounds like she was a big inspiration..."

"The biggest... nowadays, Lilac's the only other person I have that I can relate to as family." Carol said, leaning close to the kitsune. "Other than that, I've never had anyone to relate to before... aside from you.."

"W-wait, what do you m-mmMMF!" Tails was silenced as Carol's lips met his. Carol kept Tails silent as soft grunts escaped both their lips before Carol pulled away, leaving Tails with a small gasp. "Wh-why did you.."

"Hey, maybe I have a bit of a spark for you..." Carol said, a small smirk on her face. "Now, c'mon, let's get ready."

Tails nodded. "Alright everyone! Up and at em'! Time for some chaos!"

* * *

 _Neo ScrapBrain, near early hours..._

"Alright, everything's in working order..." The robotic Gong mused to himself. "Nothin' out of the ordinary, everything's still in workin' order... Seems like the doc is gonna be pleased with this. To think, I'm doing a better job at this than Neera did, especially now since she's off the doc's ally list now." Gong smirked to himself. "Oh I can't wait to see the looks on their stupid faces when we unleash an entire air battalion across this entire planet! It'll be glorious..."

Soon sirens started blaring, startling the robot panda to check the security cameras. None other than the blue hedgehog and his friends were making their way thought he area, smashing up nearly every guard robot there was. Gong slammed his fists into the control console, enraged at the sight of the three.

"ALL TROOPS!" Gong bellowed over the intercom of Neo ScrapBrain. "WE'VE GOT SOME TROUBLE BREWING! ALL TROOPS, REPORT TO BATTLESTATIONS!"

* * *

"Yahoo!" Sonic yelled after blasting through another Mallet Titan, blowing it to pieces. "Now THIS is fun! What's the matter, not enough muscle to send after us?"

"Don't let your guard down just yet Sonic!" Neige yelled, firing off several icicles, striking down several aerial bots. "At least hold them off until Lilac and the others get through!"

"Heh, as if I forgot!" Sonic said, noticing the lilac blur rushing inside with three other figures. "Just as long as we keep this stuff in check, we'll be fine!"

"Heads up!" Tails yelled, noticing a giant scorpion robot launching from the large palace and landing in front of them; large and hulking in form with six large spiked feet, a gigantic claw, and a single unblinking green eye in front. "Wh-what is that?!"

"It seems the Chaser insubordinates have arrived." The robot spoke. "Please remain still during the extermination process. Thank you."

"Oh, so you're Eggman's new toy, huh?" Sonic grinned. "Alright then, let's get rumbling!" The blue hedgehog blasted into a spindash and boosted forward at the robot. Syntax drew her large claw back and shot it forward, slamming into Sonic and knocking him back before retracting it and opening a hatch on the back of the robotic abdomen, firing off several electric burst grenades at the group. The trio immediately split up to avoid the blasts, with Neige sticking to a wall and forming a large icicle spike to her hand, then immediately dashing at the Syntax scorpion, slashing through two of her spiked legs. Neige flipped away from Syntax and landed on her feet, smirking to herself as she saw the sparking stubs on Syntax's metallic body, but the smirk soon went away when wires shot out of the stubs and immediately reattached the legs to her body, as if they never were damaged in the first place.

"Wh-what?!" Neige stuttered.

"Come now, did you really think that would work?" Syntax said, the claw extending and shooting straight for Neige. Neige quickly dodged out of the way before forming a couple of ice shards in her hand, flinging them straight at the robot. Syntax's claw immediately shredded the shards before her robotic scorpion body lunged at Neige. Neige rolled out of the way before the sharp legs came down where she was, and immediately fired a laser blast out of her claw. Neige raised an ice barrier, but it proved fruitless as the blast shattered the wall and knocked Neige backwards into a wall. Neige wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth before dodging a split-second crushing from Syntax's claw. Syntax was about ready to fire off more electrical missile before being hit from behind by Tails with a tail attack. Syntax immediately turned and shot off her claw straight at Tails, but Tails flipped over and landed onto the claw itself, attaching a device before the claw disabled and detatched from Syntax's body.

"Hmm, interesting." Syntax said, before a large blaster appeared where the severed claw was. "I am confused as to why you want to make things harder for yourself. However, the doctor will not be the one to complain once you are finished off." The blaster arm started firing laser blasts at the kitsune, while he flew around to try and dodge them; but his luck soon went south as a blast hit his tails directly, causing him to cry out in pain as he fell to the ground, the fur on his tails burnt and unusable as Syntax approached him, pointing the blaster arm straight at his head. Tails shut his eyes and covered his head, expecting the worse, but that moment never came as Sonic slammed into Syntax, knocking her away while Neige rushed over to Tails, pulling out a small satchel filled with Life Petals.

"You okay, kid?" Neige said, getting some of the petals out of the satchel. Tears flowed from the kitsune's eyes as he nodded. "Alright, just hold still and eat these."

"What are these?" Tails said, taking one of the petals.

"It'll heal you." Neige said. "Just take them." Tails uneasily took the petals and ate them, and soon the fur on his tails regenerated back to the way it was before.

"Oh, that's helpful!" Tails said, getting up. "Thanks!"

"A little help over here!" Sonic said, dodging several blasts from Syntax's blaster arm. Tails and Neige immediately rushed in and helped out, Tails immediately hopping onto the back of Syntax's scorpion body and holding on for dear life while Neige formed another icicle blade around her hand and started hacking away at the limbs of the body.

"Alright you overgrown bug, try this on for size!" Sonic said, spinning right into Syntax's single eye. Syntax flinched and stumbled backwards, leaving Tails to open the back hatch on the abdomen, pulling out several cords from the body. It proceeded to spark until the body collapsed, unusable as Syntax floated above, out of reach of the three.

"What's the matter? Quitting on fighting?" Sonic taunted.

"No, merely assessing my situation." Syntax spoke. "It seems I have underestimated you. Thankfully, I have been storing data from this encounter, so for now, I flee, but the next time we encounter, I cannot say you will have the same results." With that, a green orb surrounded Syntax before a bright flash occurred and she disappeared. Sonic smirked to himself at Syntax's fleeing.

"Well, that was easy!" Sonic said. "Alright Tails, where's the emerald?"

"In one of the robot generators nearby!" Tails said. "C'mon, let's go!"

* * *

"Alright, Carol, how close are we getting?" Lilac asked as the four ran through the hallways of what was originally the royal palace.

"We're almost there!" Carol said, rushing through the hallways with the group. "It's just a bit ahead!"

"Heads up!" Spade yelled, sliding under a giant pipe that covered most of the hallway. The other trio followed suit and ducked under the massive pipe before reaching the core computer at the heart of the base. "Alright kid, get to work hacking that thing."

"Got it!" Carol said, rushing forward. "Lilac!" Carol called, before Lilac removed the scanner from her head and tossed it to Carol. Carol attached it to the side of her head and turned on the screen, activating the hacking algorithms in it and started typing away on the keyboard. "Alright, I'll take care of this! You guys shut down the backup generators in here!"

"No problem!" Lilac said, activating a Dragon Boost and slamming into one of the generators, while Spade and Milla went after the other generators. But it didn't last long before a shriek was heard and Milla was flung to the center of the room, a nasty bruise on her face.

"MILLA!" Lilac cried before rushing over to the basset hound on the floor, scooping her up in her arms. "Oh my god, Milla! What happened?!"

"Th-that!" Milla squealed, pointing at the massive hulking metal figure approaching the draconian. "G-GONG!"

"In the metal!" The robotic Gong spoke, lumbering forward at the two. "And it looks like you two have been rather busy interfering with the doc's plans! Now then, why don't you be some good little kids and get out of here before I have to get nasty?"

"AS IF!" Lilac yelled, setting Milla down before the basset scampered away from the battle zone. "I don't know who you think you are Gong, but I won't let you keep this up any longer!"

Gong snorted at the dragon's comment. "How cute! The little dragon thinks she can stand up to me! Alright kid! You wanna fight? You messed with the wrong bot!"

"BRING IT!"

* * *

Lilac immediately curled into a Dragon Boost and shot straight forward at Gong. Gong smirked to himself before sticking one of his arms out and blocking the boost altogether, then grabbing Lilac's head and throwing the girl fiercely into a wall. Lilac got back up and wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.

 _'Alright, looks like Dragon Boosts are too predictable for him, he'll easily counter them.'_ Lilac thought to herself. _'And if the Boost didn't work, trying Cyclone would be suicide... Looks like I'll just have to go in physical for this...'_ Lilac then immediately dashed forward at Gong, readying a punch at the robotic panda's face. Gong immediately saw this and brought his shield out front, spikes immediately jutting out on it. Lilac smirked and leapt over Gong before twirling and slamming a drop kick into the back of Gong's head knocking him forward. Gong got back up and charged at the draconian with the shield, attempting to ram her, but Lilac soon flipped over the general and was prepared to deliver another drop kick onto Gong. However, Gong saw this coming and threw his shield like a deadly frisbee and boomerang combined into one. The shield flew around and slammed hard into Lilac's back, knocking the draconian into the floor of the room. Gong then picked up his shield and strutted over to the draconian, Gripping his fist over the dragon's face and holding her above him.

"Well look, the dragon FAILED!" Gong spoke. "Well, it was obvious as to who would win this. There's no surprise here about that."

"I-it's not over yet, G-Gong..." Lilac choked out.

"Oh, this is VERY much over." Gong spoke. "Any last words?"

"Yeah!" A voice yelled. "LET MY FRIEND GO!" Gong had no time to react before a large orange energy sphere slammed into the back of Gong's head, throwing him off guard and causing him to drop Lilac. Lilac rushed away from Gong as quick as she could before the metal panda turned to see his instigator; none other than Milla, holding an orange energy sphere in her palm, a look of anger and determination on her face.

"Sorry kid, but you're in the way too!" Gong yelled, charging with a shield bash straight at the basset. Milla charged up a Phantom Cube and expanded it in front of her. Mere seconds away from colliding, Milla activated the Shield Burst and fired, knocking both her and Gong in opposite directions. Milla flipped and landed on her feet, before forming an orange energy sphere and hurling it at Gong, having it collide before she clamped her fist, causing the the orb to explode and damaging Gong. Gong got back to his feet, kneeling from his heavy damage, before his rage activated and he charged forward, intending to impale Milla on his shield. Milla got another Phantom Block ready and held it in front of her, ready to fire. However, Gong saw this ruse and leapt at the last second, dodging the Shield Burst and slamming the basset into the ground. Gong held the basset's hands down with his foot, staring down at the young one.

"How pathetic!" Gong growled. "As if your attempt to overthrow me would be good enough!"

"I-I won't let you!" Milla squealed, squirming to break free of Gong's grasp. Gong merely smirked at the basset's attempts to escape his grasp as soon he brought the edge of his shield up next to Milla's neck.

"And to think, you would've made a good servant to the doc too..." Gong mused. "Oh well, time to eliminate you!"

"Not on my watch!" Lilac shrieked, slamming into the side of Gong with a Dragon Boost he didn't see coming. Gong was flung to the side before Lilac brought a Rising Slash into his side before slamming him to the ground hard. "And no one hurts Milla!"

"C'mon... c'mon..." Carol growled as she continued to type into the keyboard. A screen lit up green, and soon a big smirk appeared on her face. "GOT IT! The factory's shuttin' down!"

"Nice job Carol!" Lilac said. "What about Sonic and the others?"

"Right here!" Sonic said, strutting into the room with Tails, Neige, and the Magister. "Was just taking care of getting the other Chaos Emerald AND getting the Magister out of his hold."

Tails nodded before noticing the unconscious robot Gong on the floor. "Oh! And you guys managed to stop Gong too!" He said, getting the deroboticizer gun off his back and blasting Gong in the giant beam of light expelled from the weapon itself. After a couple of seconds, the light dissipated and a normal General Gong was left unconscious before he sat back up, holding his head in pain.

"Oww..." Gong groaned. "Maybe a little less rough next time?"

"Sorry, it was the only way." Lilac spoke. "Either way, that's it! All of Eggman's bases are scrapped now, AND we've got the kingdoms back!"

"And all the Chaos Emeralds to boot!" Sonic said. "Aside from one, but something tells me Eggman's not gonna hold onto that for too long."

"You've got that right!" Carol said, smashing open the casing on the computer and taking the Chaos Emerald inside. "Sorry 'bout the mess around here, but things had to be done to stop that mad egg."

The Magister nodded. "The kingdoms have granted you all their gratitude for their liberation. Zao and Dail are readying their airships for an assault on this tyant's base."

"And we're gonna need whatever forces are here to fight Eggman before boarding." Sonic said, clamping his fists. "He's got the last emerald AND the Kingdom Energy!"

"Well, that means we have one last thing to do..."

* * *

 **At last, the kingdoms have finally been liberated! And now the heroes seem ready to bring the fight straight to the mad doctor himself! But Eggman might have a few more tricks up his sleeve to prevent his defeat. Will Sonic and Lilac be able to succeed and save Avalice and Mobius in a clutch performance? Find out as the story progresses into Act 3 with "Battle of the Skies"...**


	10. Chapter 9: Battle of the Skies

_**...**_

 _ **Sonic and Lilac: Tides of Chaos  
Act 3  
**_

 _Chapter 9: Battle of the Skies_

* * *

"No, no no NO dammit!" Eggman growled, slamming his fists into the console of the main computer. "I wanted the entire planet under my control, and now my troops are falling left and right! Those little... insolent..."

"Master Robotnik," Syntax's voice spoke from behind him, snapping him out of his catatonic rage. The mad doctor soon regained his composure and turned to the squid-like robot. "It seems as though the three kingdoms are now preparing an assault on the base. Evasive maneuvers NEED to be taken."

"Gah!" Eggman growled. "How much of the Death Egg is complete?"

Syntax remained quiet for a second before giving the answer. "Ninety-three percent complete. Death Egg Mark III is functional for movement now."

"Perfect." Eggman said. "Reprogram for moving the Death Egg into the atmosphere for launching the Egg Fleet. I'm not going to allow myself to be humiliated by a meddlesome hedgehog and a lizard!"

"...yes, Master Robotnik." Syntax spoke, before teleporting out of the room. Eggman grumbled to himself before turning to the console again, looking over the weapons systems. "It's almost complete... once the Kingdom Stone energy is intergrated into this mech... Oh hohohoho, will they regret it..."

* * *

"Dang, never knew you guys would have ships THIS big!" Sonic said, standing aboard the main deck of Shang Tu's Sky Battalion. "How long have you guys had something like this?"

"We've had these ships for quite some time now." The Magister spoke, looking out onto the entire battalion as soon the Shang Mu and Shuigang battalions soon joined them, as well as several hijacked Egg Fleet ships that were docked near the kingdoms. "But these new ships are going to be vital if we are to stop this madman from destroying our homeworld..." He turned to the communications console of the main deck and brought up for the main flagships of the other two fleets. "King Dail and Mayor Zao, is everything ready for the defense?"

"All systems are online and ready for the fight, Magister." Dail's voice spoke. "We are awaiting your word to begin."

"I am ready!" Zao said. "The troops are rearing to go at him head on! Let's just do this so I can regain my lost pride!"

"Patience Zao." The Magister spoke. "We need to bide our time to prevent any sort of hasty actions that could jeopardize the mission. Keep your head level and everything will work out in favor of all of us."

Grumbling came from Zao's end of the communication before the Magister finished. "We are to contact eachother again once this operation is complete and the group is safely aboard the station. Is that clear?"

"Clear Magister." Dail spoke, before cutting his transmission. Zao grumbled a bit more before agreeing and severing his communication with the Magister. With that done, he turned back over to Sonic.

"Hedgehog." He spoke. "I recommend you check up on the dragonblood and your friends before we begin."

Sonic nodded, then took off out of the main deck to down below...

* * *

"Well... this is it.." The snowcat spoke to herself. "Going head first into this tyrant's lair, finishing this off for good..." Neige's fist clenched in anger as she continued walking down the corridor of the ship. "I'd like nothing more than laying this man's mad schemes to rest for good and sending him back to whatever corner of hell he crawled out of..."

"The hell's your beef with him?" A voice spoke from behind the snowcat. On edge as she already was, she immediately formed an icicle spike to the end of her hand and swung around behind her, pointing the end of her spike straight at Spade's forehead, who didn't even flinch as the spike was nearly two inches away from stabbing his forehead. "Hmph, not exactly the hospitable type, are you? What's the matter, to antsy to fight?"

Neige gritted her teeth but kept her calm composure. "My apologies." Neige said, evaporating the icicle spike. "I just don't have time to deal with this right now. What do you want?"

"Sonic just wanted me to round everyone up for the big scuffle. I'm just running around to get everyone that he isn't, and I'd thought you'd be down here." Spade chuckled to himself.

Neige merely rolled her eyes. "Well, you've certainly got the intuitive knack for finding me..." She muttered to herself, walking away from Spade. "Look, if we need to get ready for this, then let me do it on my own accord."

"Hmph, still as rebellious as ever..." Spade commented. "Just like you were back then..."

"..." Neige remained speechless, standing in place at what Spade had said. "...Spade." She spoke, her voice starting to tremble slightly. "You know why I left in the first place..."

"Because you abandoned us." Spade said bluntly. "You walked out on the Scarves by yourself because you thought that you could do everything on your own. You could have stayed with the Scarves a-"

"And end up throwing my life away while you guys continue to constantly steal and murder?" Neige growled. "No.. I won't."

"Neige, for the last time, the Red Scarves are not murderers." Spade said. "We're mercenaries. Hired assassins. We're not mindless killers just sent out to kill whoever we damn please. You know that and the Head Scarf also knows that."

"And does she know of the regret I have to live with because of the blood on my hands by association? Does she?!" Neige yelled. "Does she know the personal hell I've had to deal with in my life?!"

"You should have known what you were getting yourself into when you first joined!" Spade countered, before calming himself down. "Look... why did you abandon the Scarves in the first place?"

Neige remained silent for a couple of minutes before giving an answer. "Coral." She spoke. "Coral was my reasoning."

"..."

"Coral was a close friend of mine when I was still part of the Scarves. I truly though that she and I were making a difference that the political leaders were being oblivious to... and then...THAT mission. The one where everyone thought she vanished..." Neige fell silent. "When she had died."

"Neige.."

"Coral was my only friend in the Scarves. I had no reason to stay once I found out she had died... and that YOU didn't try to save her."

"Bull. I tried to keep her from going on what was a suicide course!"

"No you didn't! If you did she would still be here!"

"No she wouldn't!"

"WHY?!" Neige yelled, nearly breaking down. "WHY THE HELL WOULD SHE NOT RETURN?!"

"BECAUSE SHE SACRIFICED HERSELF FOR ALL OF US!" Spade yelled, and those words cut Neige like a knife. "Before Coral sacrificed herself, she told me why she was doing it in the first place. Because if she didn't, we wouldn't be standing here today!"

"..." Neige was at a loss for words with what Spade just said at her.

"Coral was fully aware of what she was doing that it would be a suicide mission!" Spade said. "She was doing it for the better of all of us!"

"..."

"Now look. Coral wants both of us to live on and continue for her, otherwise her sacrifice would have been in vain." Spade said, walking past her. "Now let's get moving. Sonic and the others are probably waiting for us."

Neige nodded before Spade walked off ahead, leaving the snowcat behind as she thought of what had been said.

"Coral..." Neige muttered to herself before taking off down the corridor after Spade...

* * *

 _Sky Deck, Shang Tu Battalion Flagship..._

"Well, this is it..." Carol said, gripping tightly to her deceased sister's katana. "There's no turning back now."

Lilac nodded. "It's time we take the fight straight to Eggman's doorstep." She said, cracking her knuckles. "And I'd like nothing more than getting him out of Avalice for good."

Milla nodded. "Let's show that bad man what we're REALLY made of!"

Tails nodded. "Alright, everyone remember the plan of attack?" Everyone else nodded. "Alright, Carol, you're with me. Sonic, Lilac and Milla, you're another group, and Spade and Neige are together for their assault. Once Eggman's fleet comes into range, we're to dispatch and start ransacking the ships so that the other battalions can take them down."

Sonic nodded. "Well, looks like it's time to rumble!" Sonic said, looking up at the lowering Death Egg. "Egghead's gettin' ready for an attack soon!"

"Well then, let's show him!" Lilac said. "Magister, NOW!"

As if on cue, several blast shells launched from the ship , taking off at the approaching Egg Fleet. The seven took their lead and leaped off the ship onto the blasting shell that took off towards the looming fleet. Soon the group of missiles separated off into the three separate clusters, each set breaking off towards their respective targets: Spade's group heading off on the right, Tails' group heading off to the left, and Sonic's group heading straight to the center. Soon the assault had reared its ugly head as both ships started firing out at eachother, scraps of metal being heaved into the air with each impact. Sonic immediately boosted forward and smashed through a main cannon, blowing it to shreds while Milla threw several orange Phantom Spheres, slamming them into the barrels of the cannons before detonating them and blowing the lids right off of them. And with a final Dragon Boost, Lilac destroyed the largest cannon, leaving the ship defenseless.

"That's one down!" Lilac called. "Let's hit the next one!"

"Alright!" Sonic said, the group leaping off the back of the ship before the battalions opened fire, sinking the ship out of the sky. Milla soon swooped in and grabbed Lilac and Sonic before hoisting them up to the next ship. The next few ships were soon dropping like flies as the three went between them, taking out the cannons on each ship before the battalion sank them out of the sky.

Meanwhile, Spade and Neige had just landed on their respective ship before a Mallet Titan had soon charged at the two, swinging its hammer down to try and flatten the two. Neige quickly rolled out of the way before forming an ice wall and slamming it forward into the robot. The robot immediately retaliated and slammed the hammer into the ice wall, shattering it and firing off many ice shards straight back at the snowcat. Neige braced herself as the shards slashed by her, marring several cuts across her fur and body. Neige flinched from the pain before lunging forward, slashing at the robot with an icicle blade she formed on her arm. The robot didn't even so much as flinch before grabbing Neige and throwing her across the deck of the ship. Spade, during Neige's distraction, was busy destroying the cannons on top to prevent it from firing.

"You know, it wouldn't kill you to help me out a bit!" Neige yelled to Spade, nearly getting slammed into the deck by another hammer swing.

"Kinda busy making sure the kindgom's battalions aren't turned to scrap here!" Spade said, slicing up another cannon with his cards. "Just keep that damn thing occupied until I'm finished taking these things out!"

"EASIER SAID THAN DONE!" Neige yelled, before decapitating the robot altogether. "Dammit Spade, are those cannons out of commission yet?"

"Give me a second!" Spade said, slicing the last cannon with his cards. "Last one's down! Let's go!" With that, the body of the robot exploded as the two fled off the back of the ship, soon it sank out of the air as they continued their assault. "We're not done yet! Keep your guard up!"

Meanwhile, Tails and Carol were making quick scraps of nearly every ship of the fleet they were coming across. Carol quickly sliced through each cannon, feeling her bloodline's energy and power through her sister's katana, and soon several of the ship's defenses were put to pieces, promptly being put to ash by Tails' blaster. Soon a large bird-like mech had dropped down in front of the two, before arming a large laser and aiming it straight at the wildcat. A lightbulb seemed to go off in her head as she saw the mech.

"Hey, Tailsy!" Carol said. "You go on ahead! I'll take care of this thing!"

"Carol, that's an E-2000!" Tails said. "You sure you can take care of that thing?"

"Puh-lease!" Carol said, brandishing that toothy grin she got when she was cocky. "I've torn through legions of Shade Troopers with only my claws! My sister was an S++ ranking Scarf! This tin can's gonna be nothing more than scrap when I'm through with it!"

Tails nodded before taking off away from Carol and the robot. "Alright, bolts-for-brains, let's dance!" Carol said, charging forward at the robot. The E-2000 immediately fired its laser weapon straight before Carol dodging straight to the side before leaping around the robot and stabbing her katana straight through the brain core of the robot. "Alright, laser breath, let's take you for a spin!" Using her katana as a makeshift joystick, she began controlling the robot's actions and started firing its laser cannon at the other ships of the Egg Fleet, and she couldn't help but crack a grin at the entire thing. "Heh, and here they called joystick controls obsolete!" Once she had been satisfied with blasting several more airships out of the sky, Carol yanked the katana out of the head of the robot before slashing straight down the center of the robot, cleaving it into two halves before it exploded. Carol smirked to herself before moving onto the next airship, where she caught up with Tails.

"Yo, Tailsy! Did you see that?!" Carol said.

"Nice job taking down those airships!" Tails said, scraping more of the cannons with his blaster. "How'd you learn manual bot override?"

"Let's just say I get a lot of my skills from heists I've done with the Scarves." Carol said, slashing apart another cannon with her katana. "And sis taught me a lot with blade techniques. I guess you could say I still got some of that Tea bloodline in me!"

Tails smiled a bit. "And I can see!" Tails said. "C'mon, let's finish off our portion!"

"We'll see about that, rodents..." A cold metallic voice rang, as Tails and Carol turned their attention to see none other than Metal Sonic, aiming both blaster arms straight at the two...

Back over with Sonic's group, the trio made it to the longest ship there was in the entire fleet. "Alright girls! This is the last ship we gotta take down before the rest of the battalion can take care of Egghead's fleet! Ready to make some scrap?"

"Let's do it!" Lilac said, readying a Dragon Boost.

"Not as long as I am in charge!" A voice rang before a large robotic hawk mech flew overhead of the trio, and piloting it was none other than Dr. Eggman himself. "You're not getting any further than this point!"

"Pfft, really Eggman? In THAT thing?" Sonic chuckled. "Did you forget how easily I trashed that thing last time? This'll be a piece of cake!" With that, Sonic dashed forward at the robotic hawk as Eggman shifted the mech into reverse and began firing the minigun in the beak of the mech. Sonic immediately dashed forward and spindashed through the right rotor, smashing it completely. The Egg Pawns immediately started firing from their feet turrets, but it soon proved fruitless as Milla threw two seperate Phantom Spheres and slammed them into the two seperate turrets, detonating them and destroying the feet. Finally Lilac Dragon Boosted through the left rotor, tearing it to shreds and causing the Egg Hawk to lose altitude above the ship itself.

"Time for this bird to make a landing!" Sonic said, slamming upwards through the engine core before the entire robotic mech exploded and Eggman fled out of the mech itself.

"This isn't over yet hedgehog!" Eggman yelled, fleeing. Sonic just smirked at the sight.

"Well, what do you know? We scared him off!" Sonic said. "Looks like he's getting anxious for our arrival! Well, I think it's time to roll out the red carpet!"

"Sonic!" Neige yelled, her and Spade running up to the other three. "Our set of ships are taken care of. Where's Tails and Carol?"

"No clue," Sonic said. "They should be done with their set of ships now."

Milla froze. "S-Sonic!" She squealed, tugging on the hedgehog. "L-l-look!" Sonic turned, along with the rest of the group, to see a sight that neither the hedgehog OR the dragon wanted to see; both Tails and Carol, horribly injured and bruised, being carried by Metal Sonic toward an entrance to the Death Egg. Needless to say, a certain switch had been flipped inside the two, something that shouldn't be touched.

"Now that madman's done it!" Lilac growled. "We've got a rescue mission now!"

Sonic nodded, clenching his fists. "Eggman, you've crossed the line too far..."

"Magister!" Lilac spoke into the communicator. "We need another barrage of missiles for entry!"

"Very well Lilac." The Magister spoke. "I am also sending Neera-Li and General Gong in for assistance as well." As if on cue, the next barrage of battalion missiles came on schedule, Neera and Gong on their respective missiles.

"Let's go guys!" Gong yelled, before he and Neera passed by on their respective missiles. Sonic and the others nodded before leaping onto the missiles that were headed straight for the docking bay of the Death Egg...

* * *

"...uuughh..aaoooww." Carol groaned, her head throbbing as she opened her eyes, her vision blurry. "Oh god, my head... what the hell happened..." She blinked a couple of times before her vision cleared, showing herself in a lab of some sort. Panic started to set into her heart as her eyes darted around, seeing that her arms and legs were clamped to the metal table to the wall, an odd looking device positioned above her. "Oh my god... i-is this what Lilac experienced back in...in Thermal Base?!" She immediately started struggling, trying to break free of the restraints. "C'mon... c'mon!" Strain started to set in before she tired herself out, breathing heavily. "D-damn it...no good...the restraints are too reinforced..." Her eyes darted around the room again, looking to her left to see none other than the kitsune, in the same position she was it.

"Tailsy!" She cried. "A-a-are you alright?!"

"Ugghhh..." The kitsune moaned. "I...I think so..." He said, bringing his head up. "Wh...where are we?"

"Some kind of lab..." Carol said sadly, her ears drooping. "Last thing I remember was taking on Metalhead...and now we're here..."

"I-I can't move..." Tails spoke, struggling to try and break free of the restraints. "Are you able to?"

Carol shook her head somberly. "I'm locked tight..."

"As it should be, for the both of you." A voice spoke, and almost instantly any hope that was in the wildcat's heart had been killed as soon who entered the room was none other than the mad doctor himself. "Don't want either of you to get away, now do we?"

"I'd rather get out to rip that mustache straight outta your face!" Carol growled. "Let us go!"

"Hmph, how adorable.." Eggman chuckled to himself, walking over to a computer console. "You still have some bite left in you, do you?"

"Anything to stop YOUR fat monkey face from hurting my friends!" The wildcat hissed. "I'll never forgive you for what you've done to my friends!"

"Pray, I don't need your comments," Eggman said, typing something into the console of the computer. "I'll just have your help instead."

"And what makes you think that we're gonna help you?!" Tails growled.

"Let me answer that question with a question..." Eggman spoke. "Your 'friends'... do they truly appreciate you for what you do? That they may just take you for granted?"

"The hell do you mean by that?" Carol said. "Of course Lilac and Milla appreciate me!"

"And Sonic doesn't take me for granted!" Tails argued.

"Hmph, typical answers." Eggman said, typing something into the console on the computer. "However, don't you think that your friends might be holding you back?"

"Wh-WHAT?!" Carol yelled, outraged.

"Granted, I can't tell much from you, furball." Eggman said, ignoring the wildcat's outburst and turning to the kitsune. "But I am looking more at you Tails."

"...Me?"

"Yes, you." Eggman spoke pacing back and forth across the room. "I've heard of many of your exploits in the past before you've met that hedgehog. Taking down an entire army with only your wits and your technology, stopping a witch from transforming an island's inhabitants into energy crystals... it's rather impressive that you still consider Sonic your superior..."

"..."

"Think of this for a second: what has he ever done for you? How many times has he taken credit for what you've done?"

"Shut up already, you quack!" Carol hissed. "Tails would never listen to this load of garbage you're spitting out of your mouth! Right Tails?"

"..."

"Tailsy?"

"..."

"Aw, come on now!" Carol whined. "Don't tell me you're actually believing him!"

"I'm not!" Tails yelled, before turning his attention to Eggman. "And I don't care what you say! Sonic's always been my friend, ever since we first met! There's no way in HELL you're going to have me go against him!"

A small light returned to Carol's eyes. "Yeah! You tell him Tailsy!"

"...Very well then." Eggman said, walking over to a computer console. "Then I suggest you think some happy thoughts before you lose them for good.." The machine whirred to life as the large threatening blaster above the two captive's head's whirred up, pointing straight at them. Carol started panicking on the inside, her eyes quickly darting for something, ANYTHING that could free them. Then, one last thought crossed the wildcat's mind...

 _"I'm going to die..."_

And then the beams fired.

* * *

 **It seems the finale has now begun. Join me next time when out heroes take on: "The Final Eggs-am"...**


	11. Chapter 10: Final Eggs-am: Act 1

AN: Wow, really feels like it's been an eternity since I've updated this story, hasn't it? I'm sorry my fellow viewers, real life had been hard on me lately, but rest assured, Tides of Chaos is FAR from dead. The final chapters are coming, and boy oh boy, are you guys in for a big seater of this. Strap in, it's time for the main course of Act 3: The Final Eggs-am!

* * *

 _ **...**_

 _ **Sonic and Lilac: Tides of Chaos  
Act 3  
**_

 _Chapter 10: Final Eggs-am: Act 1 - Infiltration Eggsodius_

* * *

The missiles collided with the deck of the docking bay with a resounding crash, the heroes jumping off before their collision and landing nearby. This was it; there was no going back now, not when they were so close to stopping Eggman. Lilac regained her posture as the group got themselves ready for the infiltration. Lilac could feel the bones in her knuckles crack as she gripped tightly in her fists, her eyes narrowing as she stared ahead at the hangar. Her tendrils twitched in anticipation, itching to get this started. She wanted to smirk, but she knew what this was for. Tails and Carol were being held captive somewhere in here, and they needed to get them back before any REAL damage could be done.

Sonic also had his quills trembling a bit. He had already come too far to back down from a fight like this. He wasn't going to allow Eggman to not only take over a planet he wasn't even from to begin with, but he also wasn't going to allow him to hurt his best buddy Tails. He clenched his fist. This was it. No turning back.

Time to show that Egghead what they were REALLY messing with.

Sonic nodded to Lilac. "You ready?"

Lilac nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be."

Neera had stepped forward. "Dragonblood." She said, Lilac turning to face her. "You and the hedgehog lead the way. Gong and I will cover from the rear and make sure we're well protected."

Spade sighed. "Well, there goes that plan I had for Neige and I to split off and take out the weapons systems..."

"There's no way in hell that's going to happen Spade." Lilac said, her tone serious. "With the Kingdom Vortex's energy powering this place, there's chances that this thing is also going to have shield generators on them."

Spade chuckled a bit. "Sash, please, do I look worried?"

Lilac cringed at the name Spade had said. "It's _Lilac_ , Spade. And no, you don't look worried. Bu-"

"See, fair enough." Spade said, crossing his arms. "Look, you two just worry about finding the vortex and your friend-siblings. Neige and I will worry about about the weapons and shield systems for the ships outside to attack, and who knows? Maybe we'll find that other gemstone you need."

Sonic nodded. "Look, just make sure you're not going to get yourselves killed okay? Eggman's already a terror on Mobius as is. We don't need another incident on this world either."

Neige merely responded with a nod. "Hedgehog. Just take care of what you need to."

Sonic nodded before turning to Lilac, Milla, Gong, and Neera. "You guys ready?" They nodded.

Sonic clenched his fist. "Then it's time we crack him wide open."

With that, the group split off, Sonic's group to find the stored Kingdom Vortex, Spade and his partner to disable the ship's systems...

* * *

Several blips had appeared on the station's radar screen as the mad doc stared at it. An evil grin appeared on his face as he saw the large cluster separated off into two separate groups. He chuckled to himself.

"Those fools... they're falling right into my hands..." The doctor chuckled to himself as he looked at the blips. He then pressed a few buttons on the console of the mainframe. "Well then, I'll be sure to give them a warm welcome..."

"Master..." A robotic feminine voice spoke from the shadows behind the doctor, the only thing visible being two red slits of light. "Shall we strike now?"

"If you're wishing to strike now, then go after the ones heading for the weapons system." Eggman spoke. "Make sure they stay functional at all costs, affirmative?"

The figure grunted. "Affirmative."

"Then get to it." Eggman spoke, before the figure moved back into the darkness. Eggman smirked. "Soon hedgehog and lizard... soon..."

* * *

"Alright, we're closing in on the weapons bay!" Spade spoke as he and Neige were bolting through the corridors of the Death Egg. "Once we're in, we get those things offline as soon as we can before regrouping with Sonic!"

Neige nodded. "From the looks of the base, we need to get those giant eye cannons offline. Something of that magnitude can easily split Avalice apart!"

Spade nodded. "Then keep up. We're running low on time." He spoke, keeping his pace. Soon the two reached a reinforced steel door, sealed by a key card slider. Spade merely chuckled.

"No problem." Spade said, pulling out a card, an Ace of Diamonds, before sliding it through the card slot. Text appeared on the screen above the slider:

 **EGGMAN ERROR 404**  
 **CARD DATA NOT FOUND**  
 **RESCAN OR TRY A DIFFERENT CARD**  
 **THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION WITH EGGMAN ENTERPRISES**

"Yeah, nice trick you've got there." Neige said sarcastically. "What else are you gonna do, play cards with it?"

"Wait for it..." Spade retorted, before the console started sparking and burst, and the door soon opened after that. Spade smirked. "You were saying?"

Neige looked annoyed for a second, but then the look vanished. "Whatever, let's just get the systems shut down..." She said, heading into the room.

The large room expanded out before the two, showing a large assortment of objects lying about. Gigantic mechanical suits were strewn around the room, deactivated and set into what appeared to be storage. Technical globins and circuitry outfitted the walls, all running up to the main core of the room. A massive cylinder, coated in a metal chrome color, with several pipes extruding into the wall where it was rooted. A small keyboard was nestled next to it.

"So... how much you wanna bet that giant thing controls the eye cannons?" Neige spoke, looking up at the giant cylinder. Spade nodded back, already heading for the giant machine.

"We get this thing shut down, and then we'll be-" Spade didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before a spinning green buzzsaw carved through the floor in front of the half-panda before coming to a stop, uncurling from the form to reveal the figure. Green metallic skin, a serated buzzsaw blade on the forehead with a dark green marking and two metallic ears. The figure had a black torso, dark green thighs, gleaming metallic claws, a buzzsaw attached to it's tail, and it's red slitted eyes glared coldly at Spade and Neige. This figure seemed all too familiar...

"I'm sorry..." The newcomer's metallic voice cooed. "Were you trying to interfere with the master's plans? That kind of behavior is not appreciated from insubordinates." The bot said, extending a blade from it's forearm...

* * *

Meanwhile, with the other group, they were already making their way through another section of the gigantic space station, before reaching the massive hangar within it. Multiple ships were strewn out, looking ready for launch, while several other Egg Pawns were strewn about the area, armed with blasters, others with lances, others with bazookas. Sonic merely smirked.

"Looks like there's a bunch of them!" Sonic said. "Time to party!" The hedgehog then sped ahead and immediately smashed through an Egg Pawn before it even got a chance to react. Shortly after that, the entire hangar turned into a gigantic war zone, blasts flying everywhere as the sound of rending metal rang in the air. Several times there was the blast of a Super Shield Burst or the shattering of ice crystals before eventually the noise died down, the area strewn with scrapped robots.

Sonic smirked. "Well, that didn't take much effort." He said, dusting his hands. "At least this'll stop him from launching ships for a while. Didn't see the Chaos Emerald at all during that scuffle. Any of you guys did?"

"Negative, hedgehog." Neera-Li spoke. "No sign of the stone anywhere."

"Damn..." Sonic said. "Then he's probably got it running up in one of the power generators in this station."

"We better get moving then..." Lilac stated. "The longer we spend here, the more and more likely that Tails and Carol may be..."

"I won't allow that to happen to my good buddy." Sonic stated, clenching a fist. "Like hell is Eggman going to hurt him."

"And Carol..." Lilac said, an angered look in her eyes. _'I won't allow her to fall into the same fate as Milla...'_

"L-L-Lilac!" Milla shrieked, pointing a shaking finger ahead of her. "T-T-T..."

Lilac turned to see what Milla was looking at and scared of, only to see none other than a familiar robotic squid floating above the group.

"SYNTAX!" Lilac growled, clenching her fists, her eyes glaring daggers of hatred at the robot. "Where's Carol? What did you do to her?!"

"I am not programmed to disclose that information." Syntax spoke. "What I am programmed to do is to remove pests and incompetent intruders like yourselves, much like what I have been programmed to do. And unless you're feeling generous enough to kindly turn back, I will have to ask you to remain still during your extermination process."

Lilac had gritted her teeth in anger. "Like hell am I ever surrendering or backing down when my world is in danger!" She growled. "And there is NO WAY in HELL am I leaving my friend for DEAD!"

"Suit yourself then." Syntax said. "Master Robotnik will be pleased with your extermination. **LAUNCHING PROGRAMMING COUNTERACTION METHODS...** " At that moment a bright light came from Syntax, causing the group to shield their eyes from it. When the light had died down, the group had moved there arms to see... Syntax, the squid robot now the head of a large mechanical body, towering over the five. "Now then, prepare for your annihilation."

Sonic clenched his fists, crouching a bit back as if he was getting ready to lunge at Syntax. "Oh sure, like a giant robot form is gonna scare me!"

Lilac merely smirked, her posture... changing a bit, looking a bit more threatening and serious as she cracked her knuckles. "I think it's about high time I show you where your kind belong." Lilac spoke, a noticeable amount of confidence in her voice. "Maybe get yourself scrapped like I did to you back on the Dreadnought!"

"Bring it squidbot!"

* * *

Clanging rang throughout the weapons hall as metal blade and ice blade collided against eachother, Neige fighting against the robot like it depended on her life. The robot smacked away the snowcat before extending its glowing red plasma claws and dashing forward at the now scrambling Neige, who quickly slammed her forearms together and summoned an ice shield before the robot brought its arms down in a slashing motion, the heated claws slicing into the ice shield, trying to get at Neige. As the claws nearly got close to even cutting off Neige's forearms, several sharp playing cards slammed into the robot's back, causing it to wrench its claws free of the ice shield and turn at the disturbance, being none other than Spade having thrown his cards at it. The robot had become enangered and dashed forward at the half-panda, claws extended, leaving Neige free to run up to the gigantic cannon silo to begin work sabotaging it.

"You insubordinate cad!" The robotic figure roared as she swiped at Spade. The half-panda dodged to the side before throwing off a volley of cards straight at the robot, but it proved fruitless as the robot sliced through the cards with minimal effort. The robot then slashed at Spade again, this time managing to draw blood as the claws sliced at the side of his torso, eliciting a pained grunt from Spade. Spade immediately followed up with a roundhouse kick to the side of the robot's head, sending it spiraling sideways before it rightened itself, sheathing the plasma claws and re-extending the katana blade from her forearm.

All the while, Neige had been slicing ice blade forearms into the gigantic metal cylinder, carving it up like it was a gigantic roast turkey with no effort. A look of what appeared to be pleasure slowly came up on her face as she slashed apart the eye cannon with minimal effort. Well... at least it was until the sound of a buzzsaw was heard, and Neige ducked out of the way just barely in time before the buzzsaw of the robot's tail slashed where Neige's chest would have been, slicing into the gigantic metal cylinder. Neige quickly countered and spun gracefully, kicking away the robotic figure before flinging an ice shard straight at her. The robotic figure immediately countered with its forearm blade, slicing the massive shard in half into powder snow. The robot narrowed its eyes before dashing forward at Neige, slashing at her with the blade. Neige barely had any time to react, but even the time given to her wasn't enough. The blade collided with the side of her torso, a crimson red splash splattering across the cannon cylinder. Neige collapsed to the floor, slumped against the cannon silo, clutching the side of her bleeding torso, a contorted look of pain and agony on her face with her eyes clamped shut, her breathing erratic as she slightly trembled from the pain. She weakly opened her left eye and looked up, seeing none other than the robotic figure looming above her, soon pressing her blade straight to Neige's forehead, a small trickle of the crimson liquid running down her face from the pressed blade.

"Hmph, pathetic." The robot cooed. "So now, any more words before your execution?"

Neige just lay there frozen, her single open eye wide in terror as she was cusping death within a few moments of her life. She was speechless, and it appears the robot was aware of that.

"So you have no words..." It spoke. "Hmph, pitiful, really. And here I though you would have gone out with more bravado..." The robot spoke, pulling the blade back, ready to impale Neige straight through the forehead...

...until it was knocked away by Spade before it got the chance to do that. The robot crashed into the cannon cylinder, the machine soon beginning to spark and releasing several bolts of electricity across the room. Spade wasted no time in grabbing Neige and getting the hell out of there, before forcing open another door in the corridor before locking it behind him and the snowcat before the entire room that housed the cannon detonated, sending a catastrophic fireball down the open corridor, and had Spade not ducked himself and Neige into the extra room, they more than likely would have been roasted to a crisp. Spade sighed a sigh of relief before setting Neige down, leaning her against the adjacent wall.

"Neige... are you still in there?" Spade said, a surprising amount of worry in his voice for the snowcat.

"Ungh... nghh..." Neige sputtered out weakly. "Spade... the p-petals..."

Spade nodded, getting the satchel containing the pieces of reviving petals. Without hesitating, he took one of the petals out of the satchel before opening Neige's mouth, putting the petal straight onto her tongue before shutting her mouth and swallowing the petal. The waves of energy began to rush through her veins as she felt the burning feeling surge through her body, the spilt blood already evaporating to dust and disappearing. The wounds sealed up... for the most part. Neige's gash in her side still showed of a scar, and the small prick in her forehead hadn't gone away. Neige weakly stood up, leaning on Spade for support.

"H-hey.." Neige spoke weakly, a small soft smile coming to her face. "Th-thanks for saving me back there..."

Spade nodded. "It's nothing." He said, lifting the snowcat onto his back. "Let's meet back up with Sonic and Lilac. We've done all we could."

Neige nodded before Spade opened the door into the burnt hallway. He quickly took a look on each side of the corridor before dashing away back the way they originally came, the snowcat holding onto his back.

However, the rest would not be easy as a familiar metallic claw shot out of the rubble, pulling the bot out of the wreckage of the cannon. It stood on the wreckage, looking at the open corridor and scanning the room for any other signs of life. When it had detected none, it put a clawed hand up to the side of its head, cueing into a radio frequency.

"Doctor," The female robotic voice cooed. "Intruders have been terminated... at the cost of the main buster cannon. We'll need to make repairs once the pests are dealt with..." It nodded its head in response to what was coming through. "...I see. I shall return to the bridge shortly. Make sure the other is geared up and running for when we have to face the hedgehog and the dragon..." With that, the robot took off in the other direction for the bridge through its own shortcut...

* * *

A rebound off a wrecked ship into Syntax from a SpinDash by Sonic and soon the battle with Syntax had been brought underway. Soon Lilac was spinning against the gigantic titan, her tendrils slamming against the robotic body. Syntax immediately slammed the dragon girl away before throwing off several metal bladed boomerangs straight at the dragon. Gong had jumped in front of Lilac and raised his shield in front of him, the boomerangs creating sparks as they collided with the shield and scraped off the shield itself before lodging into the wall behind them. This had left Syntax open before Neera came from behind and blasted ice into the back of Syntax's head, with Milla immediately following up with a Phantom Cube straight to the robot. Syntax stumbled forward a bit before releasing bombs out of its arms across the area. Nearly everyone had taken cover from the blasts as the bombs ravaged the area, sending fire and molten metal up into the air. Milla shuddered a bit before forming a Phantom Sphere in her hand and lobbing it at Syntax's head, the sphere detonating and knocking Syntax back a few feet. Soon Syntax's titan body began to morph, and soon had turned into a gigantic spiked ball, the robotic squid at the core.

"She's switching modes!" Lilac yelled. "Spread out!" Not a moment too soon before the gigantic spikeball started rolling quickly her way and started bouncing off the sides of the room like a metallic pinball of death. When it was coming straight for Milla, the basset immediately threw up a Phantom Block shield before Syntax collided against it, spinning fast against it and starting the cracking of the shield. Milla struggled to hold the shield, clearly pushing her limits as her nose started to bleed from the mass of mental strain it took to hold the spikeball of death off. Though a more worrying thing came from the fact that Milla's crystal bracelets were starting to crack from the psychic strain. At the last second she activated a Super Shield Burst, throwing the gigantic spikeball backwards and leaving a massive hole in its armor. Milla collapsed to her hands and knees, breathing heavily before she yelled, "S-SONIC! LILAC! N-N-NOW'S YOUR CHANCE!"

Lilac nodded. "Sonic, NOW!" She yelled, before Dragon Boosting at Sonic. The hedgehog nodded, grabbing the oncoming Lilac before spinning in place like a rotational top, spinning faster until eventually he let go, launching a faster Lilac straight at the spikeball, crashing through the armor and knocking Syntax's head out of it. That did the trick, as the original plated armor ball had now turned white, and Lilac dashed away before the metallic substance came back to the head. Lilac dashed away before the glowing metal reformed into a giant turret, and Syntax attached herself to the ceiling, aiming the guns straight at none other than Milla.

Milla shrieked before raising another shield as the turret fired, slamming the massive amounts of rounds into the psychic shield. Several large cracks started appearing in the shield as the cracks on her crystal bracelets only grew bigger, struggling to keep the shield up. Strained gasps escaped from the basset's mouth as the cracks in her shield grew bigger and bigger...

...until an ice blast from Neera struck the back of the turreted Syntax, causing it to shift fire over towards the panda priestess. Neera quickly dodge behind a rubbled ship as Syntax fired upon her, Neera only being able to get off a couple of extra shots from her staff at Syntax. Milla meanwhile had collapsed to the ground, shaking and trembling like a leaf, blood running out of her nose like a waterfall. It almost seemed hopeless until Gong had done another one of his shield tosses, slamming the shield itself into the back of one of the turrets, the applied force breaking off one of the two turrets. Syntax swiveled around to take aim at Gong, but was interupted as both Sonic and Lilac bashed into Syntax, knocking her off the ceiling and down into the ground of the room. It was then that Syntax activated another form shift, changing and morphing now into a gigantic robotic crab. Syntax shot her metallic claw straight at Milla intending to aim for a kill. Milla shrieked and raised another Phantom Shield...

...but it wasn't enough. The shield shattered as the claw collided with Milla throwing her back against the back wall, in which the collision with the wall finally triggered it. Her crystal bracelets shattered as she slumped to the floor...

"MILLA!" Lilac shrieked. Rage boiled inside her as she stared at Syntax, her body shaking from the pure hatred she was surmounting inside of her. Her heightened emotions had caused her chargers on the sides of her head to glow brightly until she curled into a ball and shot forward faster than anyone expected, having activated a True Dragon Boost. Lilac collided with Syntax, several scraps of metal being flung everywhere as Lilac bashed against Syntax with all her rage. However, things would soon become more terrifying as soon a jade and orange colored blast of light came from where Milla had been slumped as a primal howl filled the room, almost sounding like a werewolf given life under the full moon. Soon the light dispersed, with Milla standing where the light was, the original tan bag she had strapped to her back having been thrown back and torn up, the rest of her outfit being torn. Around her feet were several crystalline bits of her original bracelets. A series of twisted glyphic jade and orange marks weaved across her fur and her face, and her eyes were a shade of crimson, one Lilac would be all too familiar with that would invoke bad memories...

Milla lunged at the gigantic Syntax, gripping on and digging her fingers into the robot's frame, the look of anger growing as she formed a Phantom Sphere, but looking less controlled and more destructive. She shoved the Sphere into Syntax's body, before forming another in her other hand and shoving it into Syntax again, and again...

Syntax started flailing, knocking Lilac away as she rebounded off the ground before being caught by Sonic. Sonic set Lilac down on her feet as the two looked onwards at the chaotic scene unfolding, as the beserked Milla continued to shove more unfocused Phantom Spheres into Syntax's body while the gigantic robot was flailing uncontrollably as it tried to shake Milla off, but the basset wouldn't let go until she had shoved one last sphere into the robot's gigantic body. At that point she had leaped off away from Syntax before landing a bit away from the robot. Then with her eyes glowing crimson, she clenched her fists before crossing her arms in an X formation in front of her before throwing her arms out to her sides, causing the embedded Phantom Spheres to detonate, shredding Syntax to pieces. Milla howled as Syntax, now returned to normal, soon dashed at her with its tendrils outstretched to grab the basset. Milla formed a Phantom Cube before expanding it into a shield in front of her, her enraged eyes still glowing crimson. When Syntax was about a mere few feet away from Milla, Milla activated the Super Shield Burst, blasting Syntax to shreds. The squid's robotic carcass hit the floor as the green light in its eye died down. Milla glared daggers at the robot before gasping clutching her chest in pain, collapsing to her knees.

"Milla!" Lilac cried, rushing over to her friend, holding her close with tears in her eyes. "Ohmygod, Milla... wh-what happened?"

"L-Lilac..." Milla stuttered. "I... I'm sorry... I-I should have told you before all this..."

"M-Milla?" Lilac choked out.

"M-my bracelets... they were used to keep my psychic energy in check... so that way... I didn't over exert myself..." The young basset spoke, weakly holding a piece of her shattered bracelets up to Lilac. "Th-that virus that Brevon injected into me... i-it's mixing with my psychic energies..." She coughed, a bit of blood coming out of her mouth. "With my bracelets shattered, the v-virus unleashed a version of my powers... so stronger than I could even i-imagine..."

"M-Milla..." Lilac breathed, hugging the basset close. "Don't die on me... I-I don't want to nearly lose you again..."

Sonic was silent throughout the entire scene, though now he realized why Lilac was so hesitant on talking about why she was so protective of Milla.

"L-Lilac..." Milla breathed. "Listen... kick some Buttnik for me... okay?" She faintly smiled, a small tear coming out of her eye.

Lilac had her tears flowing, hugging the basset closely. "I-I won't let that fat bastard get away with this..."

At that point Neera-Li and Gong had approached Lilac. "Dragonblood." Neera spoke, causing Lilac to snap her attention to the panda priestess. "We'll get Milla out of here. You and the hedgehog find your friends and meet up with Spade and Neige."

Lilac looked at Neera with uncertainty. "A-are you sure?"

Gong had nodded in place. "Look, we'll make sure the kid gets out of here alive." Gong said, taking Milla into his arms. "You guys have a mission. Neera and I are gonna make sure you keep going."

Lilac paused for a second... then nodded. "Alright, just... make sure Milla gets out alright."

Neera nodded. "We will dragonblood. Now you and the hedgehog get moving." She said, before she and Gong, holding the weakened Milla took off down a seperate hallway.

Lilac stood up, her fists clenched, looking off in the direction that Neera and Gong had went, a small tear in her eye... she shook her head. This wasn't time to remorse over what could potentially be a lost life. Although her heart pained for Milla's safety, she knew if she didn't stop Eggman, Avalice would be lost... for good. She looked over to Sonic.

"Sonic." Lilac spoke, a unwavering tone of confidence in her voice. Sonic looked to her and nodded.

They needed to go. Now.

With that, the two took off further down the halls, heading for the core of the Death Egg Mk. III...

* * *

And with that, it has begun. The finale. One last chance to bring down Eggman before Avalice goes under. With Milla out of commision and now Gong and Neera foregoing the infiltration to make sure the basset escapes alive, Sonic and Lilac are now more pressured under the time limit. With the two groups split off, will they be able to meet back up before Eggman can finish his intergration of the Kingdom Energy? Or will it be all for naught and Eggman succeeds in his final goal of planetary domination? Tune in for the next chapter of 'Final Eggs-am: Act 2 - Eggs-termination'...


	12. Chapter 11: Final Eggs-am: Act 2

**_..._**

 ** _Sonic and Lilac: Tides of Chaos  
Act 3_**

 _Chapter 11: Final Eggs-am: Act 2 - Eggs-termination_

* * *

Neige was still holding onto the back of Spade as the two headed through the corridors of the Death Egg Mk. III, struggling to keep herself awake during the entire thing. Spade had noticed this as he was moving.

"Hey, you okay back there?" Spade asked, trying to make sure the snowcat was still alive after that chaos with the robot in the weapons hold. Neige weakly nodded. "Y-yeah... I'm fine Spade. Just... a bit dazed from that fight back there..."

"Just trying to make sure you're still alive back there." Spade said, keeping Neige on his back as he kept moving. "Sonic and Sash gotta make it to the core of this place and find that stone."

"A-and the Kingdom Energy..." Neige spoke. "Avalice wouldn't last long if it lost that..."

Spade nodded, before looking back ahead and seeing three other figures running at the two. It was none other than Neera and Gong, with the latter carrying a battered and torn Milla on his back as the two rushed through the hall. Both of them looked concerned.

"Neera! Gong!" Spade said. "What the hell is going on? Where's Sash and Sonic?"

"The hedgehog and the dragonblood are still ahead." Neera spoke. "We don't have much time now, Gong and I need to get the basset off the station before she loses it again!"

"Again?" Neige asked. "What happened in the first place?"

"Her bracelets shattered and she went into some sort of berserker rage..." Gong said. "We're going to see if we can get the Magister's help in reforming her bracelets. Unfortunately, that means we're sacrificing ourselves for this mission to get her out of here. You two go on ahead and find Sonic and Lilac; we're getting a move-on!"

Spade nodded. "We passed some escape pods on our way from the weapons systems room. That should help you get out of here safely."

Neera nodded. "Let's move Gong." She said, before taking off past the two down the corridor, with General Gong soon following behind her. Spade looked back to Neige. "We should get moving too. Let's find the two and that stone!" Neige nodded before the two took off to find Sonic and Lilac...

* * *

Soon after the encounter with Spade and Neige, Gong and Neera soon found the escape pod bay, pods lining across the side of the wall, odd considering this was a one-man planetary-sized space station. Regardless, they managed to find a pod to fit the two of them and the unconscious basset. Gong yanked open the pod door before Neera took the basset inside with Gong following her.

"Alright, so how're we supposed to get this thing moving?" Gong said. "We're not exactly rocket scientists here!"

"There's some sort of switch here somewhere that should activate it..." Neera mumbled, looking over the control panel. She then his one of the buttons on the panel, and soon the pod jettisoned out of the massive satellite and started heading back towards the Magister's air fleet. "Alright, I think we can relax... for now, at least..."

"Right..." Gong spoke, taking a seat inside the small pod. "You seem kinda worried about the pup. Everything alright?"

Neera nodded. "Yes.. it's just of how young she was." She spoke, lightly rubbing the unconscious basset's head. "That, and she's a rare type. Rarely are basset hounds found on Avalice, even alive at that. She's a rare part of her kind..."

"Huh..." Gong spoke. "Still, what makes her so special? Is it because of that virus thing that was inside her over a year ago?"

"That I can't say for sure..." Neera said, rubbing the basset's head. "But it's something I can sense. She's got an extraordinary power inside her..."

"Hmm.." Gong said, before a few minutes of silence followed. Gong then broke the silence.

"Should we try to contact the Magister's ship now?" He asked. Neera nodded. Gong then started fiddling with some of the switches on the pod console to bring up a communications module...

* * *

"..." Lilac remained silent as she and Sonic continued on throughout the corridors of the Death Egg Mk. III. It seemed like there was something heavy on her mind as they continued on.

Sonic looked back at the dragon girl. "Hey, you alright?"

Lilac looked up. "Yeah, just... thinking things over a bit." She said.

"Hey, look up a bit. We're gonna get through this!" Sonic replied, smiling. "I'm not about to let Eggman get away with a scheme yet, and like I'm ever letting him conquer your world!"

Lilac smiled a bit. "Thanks..." She answered. "I think it's about high time we end this. I won't allow him to destroy Avalice!"

Sonic nodded. "We should be getting close. The scanner picking up anything?"

Lilac had put a hand to the scanner on the side of her head to check the map. "We're getting close to the Emerald hold. Once we get that out, we can then get straight for the Kingdom Energy!"

Sonic nodded, looking back ahead. "And find Tails and Carol..."

Lilac nodded. "I want to make sure they're okay..."

Sonic nodded back, then looked back ahead before bashing through an Egg Pawn. "Well, they're certainly starting to up the defenses now! Time to rumble!"

Lilac nodded, slicing through another Egg Pawn with her tendrils. "Let's keep going!" The two then took off quickly through the corridor...

* * *

Meanwhile, Spade and Neige had soon come upon another large room within the Death Egg. Several pipes lined the walls with a large pipe in the center. A red glow came off of the large container in the center of the room, inside the glass tubing was a gemstone, diamond cut. The two hadn't noticed the door locking behind them as they entered.

"So... is that the gemstone?" Neige asked, looking at the encapsulated gemstone. Spade nodded. "That's it. Don't know where Sonic and Sash are."

"Well, let's get the stone before that tyrant takes notice that we're here." Neige said, heading for the capsule.

"DON'T TOUCH IT!" Spade yelled. However, by the time Spade had yelled that, Neige was only two feet away from the capsule before alarms started going off, the room being drowned in an emergency red light as the Emerald capsule sunk into the ground and a large metal cylinder came down where the capsule was. Neige jumped back in shock before an all too familiar voice rang over the intercom.

"Ah ah ah! Did you REALLY think it would be that easy?" Eggman's voice rang over the PA system of the satellite. "As if you thought I would be THAT gullible to fall for that! Now then, I think now would be a good time for you rodents to become pelts." At that moment the large metallic cylinder soon gained an optical sensor, staring straight at the two. "How about I give you a simple taste of what more this glorious machine has to offer?" The message ended, and soon eight orbs surrounded the eye, rotating around the cylinder fast at intervals that it would be impossible for either of them to attack.

"Keep your guard up Neige..." Spade spoke.

"With pleasure..." Neige growled, the icicle blades coming back on her hands. It hadn't taken long before Neige had made the first move, throwing one of her icicle blades at the metallic cylinder. The blade collided with the machine, but it didn't so much as leave a dent before the machine swung its metallic orbs at the two. Both of them quickly dodged out of the way before Spade through a couple of razor sharp cards at the machine. A couple had hit the metal body, but one collided with the optic sensor, registering damage to the robot. However, it soon became aware that it had a defense mechanism, as one of its orbs rose up and started flashing, before exploding into a shower of spikes. Negie shrieked and quickly raised an ice shield up to protect her and Spade, the spikes hitting the shield and barely piercing the wall of ice.

Neige then broke the shield before looking to Spade. "Looks like you found its weak spot!" She said, before throwing an icicle projectile at it. A metallic orb had come up and raised in front of its eye, blocking the shot and destroying the icicle. "We need to take this thing down soon!"

Spade nodded, throwing another card at the machine. It deflected it with another metallic orb before throwing one straight at Neige. The snowcat took advantage of the situation and lept out of the way before lunging at the cylinder slicing at the optic sensor with her icicle blades. Wires started to expose as several gashes in the metal skin as Neige tore in, but at the same time, more of the orbs started exploding and releasing their spikes across the room. Spade tried to dodge them as well as he could, though a couple had barely grazed him. However, that wouldn't be their biggest problem as soon the metal sides of the cylinder broke off, and the core with the optic center started moving around the room on its own with two separate platforms with spikes undersides hovering around it.

"It's changing strategies!" Spade said, brandishing another set of cards.

"I have eyes, thank you!" Neige retorted. "I can see it's changing it's method of attack!" At that point the machine had thrown one of its platforms at Neige, who swiftly dodged to the one side before throwing an icicle spear at it. The blade collided with the robot, but soon the robot had activated a siren and started firing a laser from the base of it at the ground, singing the floor. Neige and Spade kept dodging the massive laser as the robot chased them around the room, but it only seemed to prolong the fight against the machine.

"I don't suppose you have any bright ideas right now!" Spade retorted, throwing a couple more cards at the machine. Neige frantically looked around before getting an idea.

"Get behind me!" Neige yelled, before planting her feet solidly into the ground, her hands starting to frost before forming a massive ice shield around the two as the laser struck the ice. Neige struggled to keep the ice as frozen as hard as she could, evident by the sweat that was starting to form under the supreme stress she laser was exerting on the ice. She started forming icicle spikes surrounding the laser, starting to refract it into several different directions across the room, burning the walls.

"I hope you know what you're doing!" Spade yelled.

"I do!" Neige retorted. "You forgot the one rule of fighting philosophy! What goes around..." She said, shifting the ice more into a cone shape where the laser was striking, aiming it straight at the robot. " _ **Comes around!**_ " The laser collided with the robot, tearing through it and erupting into a massive fireball, consuming the room and the two...

...had it not been for Neige's ice shield. When the flames had died down, there was barely an inch left on the ice shield, steam evaporating off of it as Neige panted heavily as the shield finally melted altogether, soaking both Spade and herself in the cold water, not that it would have mattered to Neige from how much sweat she had given off from holding the shield. She collapsed to her knees, breathing heavily as Spade limped over to her.

"Th-the emerald..." Neige breathed, struggling to even stand up. Spade nodded, before rushing over to where the capsule that originally held it was, before checking the canister itself.

"The canister itself is lodged in too deeply into the floor." Spade said. "I'm gonna need your help on this. Think you can lodge this out of the floor with your ice blades?"

Neige weakly nodded before limping over to Spade. "Alright... I-I'll try..." She said, before forming her two icicle blades, slamming them into the sides of the floor before lifting up. The screeching sound of grinding metal rang throughout the room as Neige hoisted the canister back up into view. Spade smirked, before punching through the glass of the canister and removing the Emerald.

"Alright, this is the last one." Spade said, storing the emerald before hoisting Neige onto his back. "Let's find Sonic and Sash and get this to them, fast." With that, he took off with the snowcat in search of the other two...

* * *

"Shoot, where is it?!" Sonic said as he blasted through another Egg Pawn that was guarding the hallway. "Lilac! Any sign of the energy on the scanner?"

"One second!" The draconian replied, tapping the side of the scanner on her head. "Got it! We're getting close!"

Sonic smirked. "Alright! You ready for a rocket boost?"

Lilac nodded in answer. "Let's do it!" Before any more Egg Pawns could swarm them in the hallway, Sonic and Lilac took off at near blinding speed, a culmination of their combined SpinDash and Dragon Boost. The two rocketed past several Egg Pawns before breaking through into a large room with what appeared to be a large viewing deck with a window at the top of the room, looking down at the inside of the room. Lilac had checked the scanner again as the door shut behind them.

"...odd. The scanner said there was an energy signal of the Kingdom Energy here..." She said, tapping the scanner again. "Yeah, it's picking up there's an amount of it here!"

Sonic's eyes darted around the room, looking for anything that would validate the claim, but there literally was nothing to back Lilac up on her claim. Well... until a familiar voice rang it...

"Oho! Getting confused by that little gadget of yours?" A familiar voice rang, evoking a groan from both the hedgehog and the dragon. "Well now, that's not exactly a hospitable way to treat your host, now is it?"

"Can it you sack of lard!" Lilac growled. "You've already done enough damage as is, and I am SICK OF IT! When do you know when to stop?! When do you know to stop destroying innocent lives that get hurt because of your own selfish actions?!"

"OH boo hoo! Like my actions affect a primitive planet with lifeforms such as yourself!" Eggman countered.

"Stuff it Egghead!" Sonic retorted. "Where's Tails and Carol?! I swear, if you hurt one part of my little buddy..."

"Relax, hedgehog, they're perfectly fine..." He said, a smug grin appearing on his mustached face. "Which is a far cry from what I can say for what you two will end up like."

A growl ripped through Lilac's throat as she glared daggers at Eggman. "Stuff it!" She yelled. "Give me one good reason as to why I shouldn't drill your sorry fat ass through several decks of your ship like I did with Brevon!"

"As if I'm going to be afraid of mere petty threats like that!" Eggman said, soon appearing in the window of the room next to a control panel. "I'd be more concerned about your safety once I'm done with you!"

"Pretty big talk from a madman that's nothing _but_ fat!" Sonic retorted. "I'll bite. What sort of 'mastermind evil invention of mass hedgehog killing spree' did you make this time?"

"Well, it's time for an old face this time around!" Eggman said, hitting a button on the console before a hatch opened up on the floor and a large metallic sphere rose out of the floor, with two plated bumpers on it that seemed to track Sonic's and Lilac's movements. Sonic looked rather unamused as the machine rose into the room.

"Wow, recycling old machines from your past failures huh? Boy, you must be REALLY desperate." Sonic sarcastically remarked. "What's next? You gonna bring out a Twin Hammer? Gapsule? Oh, maybe your _drill car_ might get me this time."

"Mock all you want hedgehog, but I've learned a thing or two from my mistakes in the past!" Eggman fired back. "Take a look around you. Notice anything different from the last time you fought this machine? If you guessed that there's no gravity wells, you are correct! Good luck trying to damage this machine now!" Eggman roared in laughter as the machine activated, soon dropping a small robot onto the floor with three wheels and spikes on top of it.

Sonic looked over to Lilac. "Looks like we're gonna need to find another way to crack this thing open. Care to help?"

Lilac nodded back. "I wouldn't have it any other way!" She said, before Dragon boosting straight into the machine. However, the mechanical bumper swiftly moved and ricocheted Lilac off into a different direction. Lilac skidded a bit on her feet when she landed before looking over to Sonic. "You got any ideas?"

Sonic shook his head. "No clue. The gravity wells allowed me to flip and send the miniature tanks into it. You got any ideas on how to flip it?"

Lilac thought for a second. "I can try using my tendrils to flip 'em. Just gotta get it right..."

"WATCH OUT!" Sonic said, tackling Lilac out of the way as a large electrical bolt struck the ground where Lilac was. Sonic and Lilac both got back up before turning to the machine. "Well, looks like he's gotten some upgrades since last time! You ready?"

Lilac nodded, seeing another tank bot drop out of the base of the machine. With a quick flick of her hair in a familiar cyclone fashion, soon the tank had been flipped over onto its top, its spikes embedding into the ground of the room. Sonic dodged to the right away from another electrical shot and SpinDashed straight into the tank, launching it into the air and colliding it with the machine, making the smaller tank explode and cause damage to the machine itself.

"Nice one!" Lilac said. "You nailed it right on the dot!" She had then noticed the armor peeling open a bit from the blast from the tank that occurred, and an idea surfaced in her head. "I think I might have something. Get more of those things launched up into the mech, we can take it down from there!"

Sonic nodded as more miniature tanks dropped down onto the ground. Lilac soon rushed forward and whipped her tendrils again, flipping them over before Sonic unleashed another SpinDash through them, launching them up into the machine and peeling back the metal at the one spot more. Lilac soon rushed to Sonic and grabbed his hand, causing the two to spin in a top rotation as Lilac spun around Sonic's spinning motion. Soon enough, Sonic released Lilac from his grip and she unleashed a Dragon Boost straight into the hole of the machine and blasted out the other side, destroying the machine as it crashed down and exploded to shreds, throwing shrapnel past both her and Sonic. Lilac stood back up, a confident smirk on her face as Eggman started raging into the loudspeakers.

"What?! NO! This is impossible!" Eggman bellowed. "You imbecile incompetent rodents!"

"Hey, can it, lardsack!" Lilac retorted, before activating another Dragon Boost and boosting up at the window. Eggman panicked and turned tail and ran, the metal door slamming behind him as Lilac crashed through the window and landed in the room, a noticeable cut on her cheek from crashing through the window. Soon Sonic accompanied her inside the room at the top.

"Well, shoot, he got away..." Lilac grumbled, clenching her fists.

"We'll catch up to him." Sonic spoke, setting a hand on the dragon's shoulder. "He's not gonna have far to run soon, and before you know it, he's gonna get a double serving of whoop-ass."

Lilac nodded, before hearing a thump from another nearby door. She quickly rushed over and opened the door to see Spade stumble into the room with Neige on his back, both out of breath and soaked.

"Spade!" Lilac gasped. "Are you two alright?!"

"Just... a bit out of breath..." Spade coughed out, leaning against one of the walls in the room. "This is gonna be a bit too much for Neige right now... I'll have to get her out of here..."

Sonic nodded. "Your choice. You do what you think is right." He said, before turning to Lilac. "We need to get going, we're getting close."

"Hold up..." Spade coughed, before taking out the Chaos Emerald and handing it to Sonic. "Here's that last stone you guys needed. Now... Neige and I are gonna get going... good luck you two.." He said before taking off with the snowcat on his back.

Sonic turned to Lilac. "Alright." He said. "This is the last of the emeralds. If worst comes to wear, we can use these."

Lilac nodded, finally getting the other door to open. "Then let's hope we don't get to that point. We need to find Tails and Carol before Eggman does any more damage." Sonic nodded, and then the two took off deeper into the depths of the station...

* * *

 **With two more heroes having been turned away from completing the journey, only the hedgehog and the draconian remain. With the Kingdom Energy or either of their friends still nowhere to be found, Sonic and Lilac move ahead with the last of the Chaos Emeralds. Will Sonic and Lilac be able to find their friends before it becomes too late? Could Tails and Carol be no more? Has Eggman gotten the last laugh? OR perhaps... something more... deathly sinister has happened. Tune in next time for Chapter 12: Final Eggs-am Act 3: A Painful Reunion...**


	13. Chapter 12: Final Eggs-am: Act 3

**_..._**

 ** _Sonic and Lilac: Tides of Chaos_**  
 ** _Act 3_**

 _Chapter 12: Final Eggs-am: Act 3 - A Painful Reunion_

* * *

Only the two of them left. Only the single two of a hedgehog and a draconian to put a stop to the nightmare of Avalice. Lilac was silent as the two continued running through the twisting metal hallways, an unnoticeable streak of tears running down her face. To her, it seemed the further they went, the more of their allies fell, and her heart sank the further they went as she soon had the thought that Carol might not have made it alive. The thoughts plagued her mind as the two traveled deeper, but she shook her head. Now wasn't the time to mourn for any lost friends; now was the time to act, to fight back against Eggman, or Avalice would be lost. She stopped the tears for now and continued running on...

Sonic, on the other hand, had rage building inside his heart. Eggman had crossed lines in the past before, but this time he had thrown down the gauntlet this time. He didn't even know whether or not Tails was even still alive at this point, but he already had enough motivation to beat Eggman's fat ugly mug into the ground. He knew what he and Lilac had to do, and he was ready for whatever happened. It didn't take long before the two came across what appeared to be the engine room, massive cogs turning and electronic panels everywhere. At the center of the room was a large glass pipe with several other pipes coming out of the base of it at the ceiling of the room and a control panel at the bottom. Inside the casing was a large blue rounded stone, almost like glass, with the inside of it pulsating and swirling in almost a hypnotic fashion...

"No way..." Lilac breathed, looking at the stone within the tubing. "He... reformed the Kingdom Stone?"

"I wouldn't get your hopes up." Sonic said. "Chances are he's just got the energy stored in a vessel. Once we get this thing out of here, we can get it back to Avalice."

"Right..." Lilac answered. "...how are we gonna get this thing out?"

Sonic thought for a bit. "Those scanners... maybe we can use them to hack the system?"

Lilac nodded, starting to type something into the console near the tubing, using the scanner to help with the hacking. "Let's see... hmm... this is odd."

"What's up?" Sonic asked.

"There's not a lot of firewalls in this system. In fact, hacking this is... really easy..." Lilac's voice trailed off. "...this feels like a trap."

"Oho! A smart lizard, aren't you?" Eggman's voice rang over the intercom at them, as if to mock them, elicting a groan from Sonic and a growl from Lilac. "I'm surprised you managed to figure out it was a trap to begin with!"

"Shut up!" Lilac yelled. "You realized I can just Dragon Boost through the glass of this tubing, right?"

"Oh, suuuuure you can... if it weren't for the fact I planned for that! You both can try all you want, but that glass is not budging to your attacks!" Eggman said as soon the console sunk into the ground and the Kingdom Stone started rising into the ceiling.

"NO!" Lilac shrieked as she immediately curled into a Dragon Boost and blasted at the glass capsule. It did nothing as she just got deflected off of the glass before the Kingdom Stone rose up into the ceiling and a hatch closed around it before the tube detatched from the ceiling and landed on the floor with a thud before falling over. Lilac landed back on her feet, clenching her fists in anger.

"Oh, what's the matter, getting enraged down there?" Eggman taunted. "You haven't even gotten to meet my newest assistants yet!"

"You realize Lilac and I have all the Chaos Emeralds, right?" Sonic said. "I can just go super and blast whatever robotic minions you got coming! And then I can just plow straight through this ship and pulverize you!"

"OH I am MORE than aware of that hedgehog!" Eggman's voice retorted. "Which is why I've made two major adjustments! Number one: This station is Super-Sonic-proof! Your super form won't even leave a dent in this masterpiece! And number two..." He said before breaking off into laughter, which only annoyed Sonic and Lilac.

"What's so funny?!" Lilac yelled, clearly angry.

"Oh, you'll see! All I will say is, using your Super form just to destroy these two will be a real irony!" Eggman said, laughing before the intercom shut off. Metal footsteps were heard in the room coming closer to the two. Sonic and Lilac got into defensive positions...

...and both their hearts were shattered from what they saw. Before the two stood none other than the roboticized bodies of Tails and Carol, with Tails pointing a blaster arm straight at Sonic's head, and Carol having her plasma claws unsheathed, her cold eyes glaring daggers straight at Lilac. The robotic Tails hadn't looked too different from his normal counterpart, just less defined in where fur features would be. A blaster was attached to his right arm, a dial on the side of it, and his tails were on a gyro. A cold, hard gaze stared back at Sonic, with the left eye starting to gain a brighter red glow...

"C-Carol..." Lilac said, shaking her head, tears already starting to form.

The robotic wildcat's eyes already narrowed at the dragon's form, starting to approach her with the unsheathed claws. I seemed she was not up for small talk as soon she took a swipe at Lilac, prompting the dragon to dodge backwards away from the slash.

"Carol, please..." Lilac said. "You don't want to do this..."

"I suggest you silence yourself, insubordinate." Carol's cold metallic voice spoke. "Don't waste your time trying to petily save someone that isn't there."

"..." Lilac was silent as the roboticized Carol approached her again for another swipe. "...I'm sorry then." Right as Carol swiped at Lilac again, the draconian ducked down under the attack and sweep-kicked out Carol's legs, prompting the robot to fall over. Lilac got back up and lunged backwards a few feet as the robotic Carol got back up.

"So, that's how you want to fight..." She spoke, resheathing her claws and extending the blade from her forearm. "I will enjoy tearing you apart..." She said before lunging straight at Lilac...

Sonic, on the other hand, wasn't faring much better. Quickly thinking, he kicked the blaster arm out of the way before shoving the robotic Tails away from him. Right now he needed to get as much distance from him as possible to make it harder to shoot him, but unfortunately, the robotic Tails wasn't too pleased.

"Trying to get away from me, are you?" The metallic voice spoke. "What's the matter? Can't look at the fact you failed to save someone?"

Sonic clenched his fists. "No..." He bluntly responded. "I know you're in there somewhere Tails. I'm not stopping until I get you out of there."

"Hmph, I'd like to see you try at that." The robotic kitsune spoke, before firing off several blasts at Sonic. The hedgehog was quick to react and dashed to the side, avoiding a good couple of them before dashing and spinning straight into the robotic kitsune. The kitsune took a hit but was soon back on his feet, crouched over with his tails sticking above his head before he started launching bombs out of the ends of his tails all over the place at Sonic. The hedgehog tried to move fast to avoid them, but soon he collided with one and was sent flying backwards into a gear. Sonic got back up, a bit of blood dripping from the side of his mouth, but it was clear Tails wasn't done yet. He aimed his blaster arm at Sonic and fired off an electrical beam at him; Sonic barely had time to get out of the way as the beam merely grazed him, catching part of his left arm. He yelped in pain as he clutched his burnt arm, breathing through his teeth as he stared back at the robotic Tails, before dashing forward and smashing a kick into the side of the robot's head. Tails was flung to the side before getting back up, his left robotic eye now glowing bright red.

"Hedgehog..." Tails' robotic voice growled, an energy forming in his open robotic hand. "You're about to have a bad time..." The energy then shot out of his hand before it grabbed Sonic and froze him in place. "Zero-point energy. Makes it a bit easier to dispose of pests like you." He said, before repeatedly slamming Sonic into the walls, floor, and ceiling like a ragdoll...

Meanwhile, Lilac and Metal Carol were trading blows with eachother, each hit becoming more intense. Carol slashed her plasma claws at Lilac, drawing blood and tearing through her gi. Lilac flinched in pain before immediately countering with a Tendril whip followed by a Rising Slash, knocking Carol up into the air. She was about to follow up with a dive kick before Carol resheathed her claws and grabbed the dragoness' foot, whirling her into a pinwheel motion before slamming her straight into the ground and pinning her down, pressing her metallic foot into the small of the draconian's back.

"Hmph, rather impressive." Carol's robotic voice cooed. "Buutttt... seems a little cheap of you to use those tendrils of yours against me. And here I thought dragons had honor..."

"C-Carol..." Lilac sputtered. "Please... you don't want to do this..."

"Silence." The robot said, grabbing Lilac's tendrils. Lilac's eyes widened and she started violently squirming, trying to break free, but it was no use. The sickening sound of ripping flesh and Lilac's shrill, painful shriek filled the room as the pained force of Lilac feeling her tendrils ripped straight from her head. The ripped tendrils hit the ground, twitching and flopping like fish out of water while Lilac laid there, clutching the two bleeding holes in the back of her head as the pain permeated her skull, eliciting tears down the dragon's face.

"Hmph. Pathetic." Carol remarked. "Here she is, the heroine of Avalice with a past of crime and regrets, now reduced to a pile of sobbing regrets in front of me. And here I thought you would have had more bravado than that." Carol would have noticed that Lilac had stopped sobbing, now slowly getting up, not even caring about the bloody holes in the back of her head anymore. "You know what you are? You're a failure. You can't even look into the past without having nearly ninety regrets and hatred of yourself. Of who you try not to be. You're nothing more than a girl trying to live in her own little world where you can be a hero. Where your past doesn't even exist. Well, I'll show you where that mentality gets you in this world. I'll make sure you suffer painfully..." Carol said, extending her forearm blade and rushing straight at Lilac, intending to cleave the dragon in two, but the dragon was the first to react and grabbed the bladed wrist, her eyes now filled with a gaze so sharp and intense it was like getting stabbed.

"No." She said, her voice almost cracking... but there was no pain in her voice; only a primal dragon's anger. "I may hate who I may have been in the past... that my actions would have made me no better than Brevon was... but that doesn't mean I don't care about those I love. I may have tried living in my own little world of trying to pry for redemption, but that changes. You wanna know why?"

The robotic Carol squirmed as she tried to break free from Lilac's grip, and she tried unsheathing the plasma claws on her other hand to slash at the arm that was holding her wrist, but Lilac's other hand shot up and grabbed the robotic wildcat's other wrist. Carol struggled to move before Lilac performed a rising kick straight to the robot's jaw, knocking it backwards onto the floor. The robotic Carol got back up, looking at the dragon before her.

It was clear enough that this was the dragon she was fighting before, but her mannerisms had changed. She stood confidently, her gi having been half torn and showing part of her white leotard underneath. The back of her neck and her back was soaked in her own blood, as well as her own gloves, and her boots were torn as well. Slash marks adourned her body and her horns were cracked and shattered. Her unwavering gaze stared straight at Carol.

"I am Sash Lilac, an ex-Red Scarf and a dragonblood. I have never backed down from a fight before, and I won't now. Carol, even if you are still in there... I'm sorry for this." She spoke, getting into a fighting position.

"Hmph, much bravado from someone who's asking for a death wish." Carol spoke, extending her forearm blade. "I'll make sure I finish you off shortly..." She cooed, dashing forward at the dragon.

"Not a chance." Sash spoke, curling into a Dragon Boost and blasting forward...

Meanwhile, Tails had gotten bored of slamming Sonic around and had thrown him into a computer panel in the room, the force of the hit snapping the panel clean off. Sonic smashed into the wall and hit the floor, battered and bleeding as he struggled to get up.

"Come on, and YOU'RE supposed to be the fastest? When you can barely even dodge me?" Tails taunted. "Pitiful."

Sonic got back to his feet, looking straight at Tails. "Fine. You wanna go?" He yelled. "Try this on for size!" He then curled into a ball and started spinning in a rotation, picking up a whirlwind before launching it at the robot Tails. The robot dodged to the side before the tornado got close... but was caught of guard when Sonic soon slammed into Tails with a well aimed smash kick, sending the robot flying and crashing into another console. Tails got back up and started firing off several blasts from his arm blaster, though Sonic moved at such a blinding speed now it was almost impossible to hit him. Sonic slammed into Tails at a force so hard he smashed through the fallen tubing that had once held the Kingdom Stone. Tails hit the ground, unmoving for a while. Sonic collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily as he gripped the floor.

Sash, on the other hand, was going toe to toe with the robotic Carol, and even with several blades and a buzzsaw tail, Sash was coming out on top, throwing out combos and fighting techniques thought not possible by her, spinning gracefully even without her tendrils as she slammed her foot into Carol, knocking the robotic wildcat backwards. The wildcat robot hissed and lunged at Sash, but the dragon rolled under the lunging robot and grabbed her tail, taking care not to give her room to move her buzzsaw, before spinning in place and swinging the robot around. "Up and at 'em!" She said, before releasing the wildcat and slamming her into a wall before landing on top of the robotic Tails, shutting her down into immobilizing too.

"And that's how it's done..." Sash said to herself, before rushing over to Sonic. "Hey, Sonic, you alright?"

"Y-yeah... I've been worse..." Sonic said, getting up. "Just a bit of minor damage, nothing serious..."

"You sure?" Sash asked, clearly showing concern.

Sonic weakly nodded. "I-I'll be fine Lilac..."

Sash shook her head. "That's not my first name. Please, just call me Sash from now on."

Sonic nodded. "You got it then." He said, standing up. "Are you sure you're okay? Your tendrils..."

"I'll regrow them when I soak in a Life Petal bath..." Sash spoke. "Now, we've got to get moving. Eggman's getting close to unleashing whatever he's got planned with what he's using the Kingdom Energy."

Sonic nodded. "Alright, and we could use that scanner t-" He was interrupted as the robotic Tails had fired off a blast and shattered the scanner. Sash gasped in shock as the scanner exploded before Tails collapsed again.

Sash looked over to the collapsed Roboticized Tails and Carol, a bit of sadness in her eyes. "Sonic..."

The hedgehog shook his head. "We're gonna have to leave them behind. As much as I hate to do so... we'll need to..."

Sash nodded, looking sadly at the unconscious robot Carol. "We'll come back for them, right?"

Sonic nodded. "We will. But we have business to take care of. Otherwise, it's all for nothing." He said, turning. "Let's go." The hedgehog began walking, with the dragon soon catching up and walking beside him. "We finish this..."

"Together." Sash finished the answer, before the two took off. However, they wouldn't notice the red robotic eyes reforming of the robot's sockets...

* * *

 **After a painful battle against their own allies, Sonic and Sash barely succeed with their mission. With Eggman still holding onto the Kingdom Energy, will Sonic and Sash be forced to be put to their limits and use the powers of the Chaos Emeralds? Will the Death Egg Mk. III be their final resting place? Tune in next time for Chapter 13: 'The Fate of Two Worlds...'...**


	14. Chapter 13: The Fate of Two Worlds

**_..._**

 ** _Sonic and Sash: Tides of Chaos  
Act 3_**

 _Chapter 13: The Fate of Two Worlds..._

* * *

The mad doctor grinned as he saw the entire fight from the viewing deck. Everything was falling right into his hands; several members of the group had already been forced to turn away, and now Sonic and Sash had essentially been forced to kill their own best friends. Once the Kingdom Stone's energy had been implemented into the new robotic mech he had prepared, combine that with Sonic and Sash being on their last legs, they would have been more than easy to kill off.

"Orbot!" Eggman yelled, prompting the red sphere robot to roll into the room. "Status update. What's the completion on the Kingdom Stone integration into the recent project?"

"Fully converted, sir." Orbot spoke. "The machine is ready for battle purposes."

"Excellent." Eggman spoke. "Are all the best weapons systems integrated from the previous models?"

"Yes sir." Orbot answered. "Salvaged technology from the Kingdoms has also been integrated into the mech. Everything should be ready for launch."

"Excellent." Eggman spoke. "And Cubot's voice chip fixing?"

"That, ehm..." Orbot started, before an explosion occurred down a corridor. "Oh dear..." He merely muttered before rolling back into a ball and rolling back the corridor.

Eggman sighed. "Well, seems like that still has a couple bugs to iron out..." He muttered to himself before turning back to the cameras, seeing the two making progress to the core of the station. "That's it you two, head straight that way..." He said, hitting some keys on the keyboard, causing several metal doors to start locking the corridor behind the two. "...right into the cage that the rodents like you two belong in..."

* * *

Sonic and Sash had soon entered into a large metallic room, much larger than any of the other rooms and corridors they had come across before. Like before, the metallic door had closed behind them, sealing them inside the room. Sash tensed at the silence of the room, getting ready for what might happen. Sonic also stood ready, his eyes narrowed at the interior of the dark room.

Sash started to loosen up a bit. "Nothing..." She spoke. "And with the scanner trashed, we don't even know if the Kingdom Vortex's energy is even here."

Sonic nodded. "Well, we can't turn back..." He said, looking back at the now locked metal doorway. "...and it doesn't look like there's any other exit around here because of how dark it is..."

Sash growled in anger. "Damn it... we're trapped, aren't we?"

Sonic hung his head. "Seems like it." He said before he looked up. "Unless you want to try a forced exit back from where we came from."

Sash smirked, cracking her knuckles. "You know I'd like that. You wanna give it a try?"

Sonic smirked back, chuckling a bit. "I'd like nothing better." He replied, before turning to the door and charged up a SpinDash. Sash soon threw a flurry of kicks and punches at the door while Sonic rammed into the door with a SpinDash. The two tried their tactics for several minutes, but the door didn't even have a dent by the end of it.

"No good..." Sash said, breathing heavily. "Eggman must've thought we would have tired that..."

"Yeah..." Sonic said, before a low hum started to fill the room. The hedgehog's ears perked up, looking around. "Hey, you hear that?"

Sash nodded. "I do..." She said as she tensed up. Glowing blue lights traveled through vein-like structures embedded into the floor and walls from the ceiling, all collecting at the base floor of the room where it looked like there was a hatch in the center of the room. The lights seemed to pulsate, filing down into the center of the room in an almost hypnotic fashion. Both Sonic and Sash couldn't help but be mesmerized by the sight of the lights... that is, until a familiar pod started lowering from the ceiling and an all-too-familiar voice spoke again...

"Yes, quite the sight, isn't it?" Eggman's voice spoke. "Well, it would be better... if it wasn't for you two here, that is..."

"Can it!" Sash growled. "I am so sick of your blatant insults toward me and Sonic! When will you learn to just give up?!"

"Hmph! I could be asking you two the same question!" Eggman retorted. "Always breaking through my machines, shutting down my factories, even as going as so far as to de-roboticize two of my best generals I ever had! As if I could ever replace someone as good as those two!"

"And strip away their own free will!" Sonic yelled. "Now if you don't want to be beaten down into next month from a pulverizing from a pissed-off hedgehog and pissed-off dragon, I suggest you de-roboticize Tails and Carol now!"

"Well, I WOULD..." HE spoke, smirking evilly. "...if it hadn't been for the fact that you had KILLED them."

Sonic clenched his fists, anger starting to seethe inside him. "WHAT did you say?"

"You heard me hedgehog." Eggman snorted. "How gleefully ironic! The two heroes killing off their own sidekicks like they were just more of my robots in your way! And here I thought you had cared for them..."

Rage was building up in Sash's eyes, her hatred of Eggman being bottled up inside her. He had to be lying, he had to! There was no way an impact like that could have killed Carol, even if she WAS a robot! She knew he had to be lying!

"Can it!" Sash yelled, her anger showing. "There's no way that could have been possible! I would never, NEVER kill Carol! She means too much to me!"

"And Tails is too valued of a friend- no, a BROTHER for me to kill! You're lying straight from your fat horse mouth!" Sonic yelled. "You're not making me fall for that! Or Sash!"

"Hmph, believe what you feel like," Eggman merely retorted. "It won't matter shortly. Once I'm finished with you two, you'll be joining them. SIX FEET UNDER!" Eggman hit a button on the console of his pod, a small alarm that started to ring in the room at regular intervals a red flash coming from the hole in the floor in time with the alarm. Eggman's pod soon interlocked with the hole in the floor, the sound of turning gears resounding throughout the room before silence resounded. Then a burst of light flashed around the room before the true mech rose out of the floor, large and powerful, gold plated and outfitted with multiple offensive weapons, one arm containing a minigun cannon, holding several Avalician DNA Cannons on it above the barrels. Two familiar tendril like tentacles with armored mouths spiraled around the base of the mech, seemingly moving on their own like their own like appendages, the back of the mech containing what appeared to be some sort of fluid. The other arm looked all to familiar and recent with a large lance-like drill on top of it, diamond-tipped. Several diamond spikes aligned the entire mech, imposing a menacing look over the entire machine, with none other than the mad doctor himself at the cockpit of the entire mech, a malicious grin on his face as Sonic and Sash stood before the mech, near horrified looks on their faces.

"Th-that's...!" Sonic said.

"Th-those cannons!" Sash added.

"Impressed?" Eggman spoke. "Of course Sonic, you'd recognize a lot of what these parts are from: the Egg Dragoon, the Nega-Wisp Armor, the Energy Titan... I've taken the best of all my designs and poured them into this magnificent creation!" He said, soon turning his gaze to Sash. "And don't think I didn't account for you lizard! Thanks to your lull in breaking out of Neo-ScrapBrain and your raids, you've given me time to integrate Avalician technology into the mech's weapon systems! Such a sham of you having go down fighting against your own world's technology."

Sash growled in anger, glaring daggers straight at Eggman, her rage boiling inside her, getting ready to burst out.

"However, the time for discussion is over! It's time you truly face the wrath and power of an unlimited energy source powered creation! The ultimate weapon of power! The Ultra-Hyper Prototype Mark Two! CODENAMED:"

 _ **KAISER**_ _ ** EGG NOVA**_

* * *

Small whimpers elicted from the basset's mouth, her cries sounding worried and pained as she was tossing, seemingly having a nightmare. Soon her eyes shot open, a small squeal escaping from her mouth as she looked around panickedly, her eyes darting around the area. Relief set in as she soon saw she was in the Shang Tu palace in one of the Life Petal spas... but it only raised the question of what had happened after she had passed out. How did she get back here? Where were her friends? Were they okay? Were they hurt?

"Ah! You've awakened." A voice said. Milla jumped in fright and looked over to where the voice had came from, and was merely relieved to see it was only Neera-Li, wearing an oriental violet kimono as opposed to her normal combat/priestess attire,sitting outside of the spa, her ice staff resting beside the tub where Milla was. "Good. The Magister was starting to worry about your well being."

Milla merely nodded. "..mhm." She merely answered, looking down at the palms of her hands, noticing the markings were still marring her body. She sighed, hanging her head, seemingly ashamed of the markings across her body. She then perked her head back up when she remembered what she was going to ask.

"M-Miss Neera, what happened after I blacked out back aboard that station?" Milla asked nervously. "A-are Lilac and Sonic okay?"

Neera slightly hung her head. "We promised them that Gong and I would get you out safely. Not long after we had fled we had soon found out that Spade and Neige had also been turned away from the station as well. We only know that the hedgehog and the draconian are still up there."

Milla gasped. "Y-you mean they're still up there with that madman?!"

"It's out of our control, Basset." Neera spoke sternly. "Our only hope rests in the two and stopping that madman before Avalice is completely destroyed."

Milla sunk back down into the spa, a concerned look on her face. "Sonic... Lilac... please don't die..." Milla whimpered, tears starting to stream down her face...

* * *

Sash gasped as the gigantic drill lance slashed at her, the dragoness barely having any time to dodge out of the way before the machine had already made its first attack. Sonic saw an opening and immediately spindashed straight into the mech... only to be reflected off the armor with a dull thud, not even leaving a scratch. The twin tendril head's eyes started glowing red, before flashing the color, a distorted voice was heard before the mouths opened, launching large orbs that exploded into fire when they hit the ground. Both Sonic and Sash dodged as well as they could before the mech had aimed its massive gatling arm straight at Sash and opened fire, spewing its energy bullets and firing off the DNA Cannons at the same time. Sash tensed up, not screaming but clamping her eyes shut and gritting her teeth, her body refusing to move... until she felt a force pull her out of the way before the DNA shots collided with the floor, utterly incinerating the floor where she was standing. Sash got back to her feet after Sonic had set her down and shook her head. She couldn't allow herself to freeze up like that again! She needed to focus!

She soon didn't get enough time to react before the tendrils' eyes flashed a cyan color, and another distorted voice yelled something, and two giant cyan lasers came from the tendril's mouths, aimed at both Sonic and Sash. Sash dodged out of the way as the laser struck where she originally was standing, before it started ricocheting off several walls, nearly intercepting both Sash and Sonic at nearly every turn. Sash dodged out of the way of another laser blast before slamming her fists into the machine, starting to go graceful combos against the mech, despite lacking her tendrils. Though her best efforts were proven fruitless as the machine wasn't even taking a scratch of damage, and soon the open hand had grabbed ahold of her in its grasp, starting to crincle its fingers and crack several bones within Sash's body. Sash gritted her teeth in pain before Eggman commanded the mech to throw her into the wall, her body slamming against the metallic surface and hitting the floor with a dull thud.

Sash struggled to get to her feet, her pained breathing evident as she struggled to hold back her pained cries of her aching body. It wasn't long-lasted as soon Sonic's body had crashed into her as well, knocking the two into the back wall of the room. Sonic groaned in pain as he struggled to get up, one of his eyes clamped shut from the pain.

"H-how..." He weakly sputtered out. "Th-there aren't even any Wisps here..."

"You'd be surprised how easy it is to recreate other energies with this world's source!" Eggman answered. "Even recreating the powers of those aliens! With this power, and the invincibility of this new mech, both of your worlds will fall to my rule!"

Sash's hands were quickly scrambling for the Life Petals in her back left belt pocket, but her heart immediately sank when she found out her pocket had been blasted open from the earlier fight. 'No, NO!' Her thoughts scrambled as she realized they were out of the one thing that could help them recover from their injuries. 'We can't be out now! We CAN'T!'

"Well, it's been fun while it lasted, but I believe it's now time to end this game." Eggman said, one of the tendril's eyes flashing a dark blue before spawning the two inside a blue-tinted energy cube. "I think it's time for you two to go out with a _bang_ , respectably." The other tendril's eyes glowed black before large round explosives started spawning inside the cube with them, the distorted voice constantly ringing out with every explosive placed inside the cube. "I would say it's been nice knowing you two... but really, I wouldn't be truthful. So I'm just going to cut straight to the point, enjoy your last few moments in existence before your sudden and extremely painful deaths."

There was a lull of silence before the explosive orbs inside the cube started glowing brighter, and brighter, and brighter, until eventually there was a massive explosion inside the entire cube...

* * *

Spade rushed into the recovery spa rooms, the unconscious Neige in his arms as he slammed through the doors, startling both Milla and Neera. Neera was the first to stand up at Spade's entrance, already her ice staff in her hand, but relieved tension as soon as she saw it was only Spade and Neige. Spade had quickly rushed over to one of the open spa pools and set the unconscious snowcat down in it. Milla had perked up from the side of her pool and looked up at Spade.

"S-Spade?" Milla asked. "I-Is she going to be alright?"

Spade sighed, nodding. "I think she'll be fine... she's overexhausted herself back on that station..."

Milla whimpered. "Wh-wh... what about Sonic and Lilac? Are... are they okay?"

Spade shook his head. "I don't know. They seemed fine when we split off from them back aboard that station. I'm certain they'll be fine..."

Milla just whimpered again, tears starting to stream down her face. "I hope so... I don't want... I don't want them to die..." She whimpered, before breaking out into tears, sobbing heavily into her hands. Neera calmly walked over and kneeled down beside the pool, gently rubbing the basset's shoulder.

"Basset, please, calm down..." Neera spoke calmly. "The draconian has shown that she's hardened. And while I do not know much about the hedgehog, he's shown he's dealt with a crisis like this before. I'm certain they'll be fine..."

Milla merely whimpered. "I hope..."

* * *

Eggman's maniacal laughter filled the room as the smoke permeated the cube where Sonic and Sash were trapped. "Yes, YES! It's finally been done! Those two pesky rodents will never again be a pain in my backside for as long as I live ever again! Mobius and Avalice are finally mine to control! GYAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Eggman continued to laugh, until he heard a familiar sound... the sound of Chaos Energy being harnessed...

"Huh?!" The doctor would yell, before a familiar voice spoke.

"You know... did you really think that breaking us would be that easy?" A voice spoke, weak... but it still sound filled with confidence. "I've been through worse hell last year than what you've put me through."

"N-no! How?!" Eggman roared as the smoke in the box cleared, revealing it to be none other than... no one. Eggman swiveled around in the entire room until he saw none other than Sonic and Sash... but something about them was noticeably different about them. Despite being beaten down, battered and bloodied, and still the same colors as they were before, the two stood confident, almost as if they didn't even know the pain was there. Sonic's eyes had changed from his normal cool green color to a burning red, and Sash's eyes had turned from her normal crimson-lavender to a sharp, glaring gold. An aura seemed to be emanating from around them as they stood there, glaring daggers at Eggman.

Sonic merely smirked. "Maybe next time you should think twice before trying to lock us in a confined cube with Chaos Emeralds." He said, before his smirk faded. I think it's about time we get this finished, right Sash?"

Sash nodded, cracking her knuckles in her fists. "I'd like nothing less." She said, before the two took off faster than Eggman could react, slamming into the sides of the mech, the boost from the Chaos Emeralds finally having them start to make progress on damaging the mech, showing some denting. The tendril's eyes started glowing yellow before the distorted voice was heard again, then the mech's large drill started glowing yellow and spinning up as he soon attempted to slash at Sash. The draconian merely flipped over the lance with grace before triggering a Dragon Boost and slammed straight into the base of where the drill connected, snapping it off and embedding it into the ground. With the drill disconnected, the mech now switched its offensive stategies up, the eyes on the tendrils now glowing pink before he aimed his gatling gun arm and started firing massive spike balls at the two. Both dodged out of the way before Sonic delivered a Chaos-Energy powered roundhouse kick into one of the spiked balls, sending it flying and slamming into the dome of Eggman's cockpit, cracking the glass.

The two were starting to gain the upper hand, slamming into the mech at nearly every approachable angle, slowly but surely creating more and more subsequent damage over the course of the fight. Even with throwing out Color Powers at nearly every possible moment, Eggman was quickly losing the headground. It soon didn't take long before Sonic and Sash locked arms with eachother and rolled into a massive combo SpinDash, tearing up the floor before slamming straight through the gigantic robot, leaving a massive gaping hole in the mech as it collapsed backwards. Sonic and Sash bounced off the wall and soon landed back on the floor in front of the collapsed machine, a smirk on the hedgehog's face.

"And THAT," Sonic said, thumbing his nose. "IS how you scramble some Eggman."

Sash nodded, a small smirk starting to appear on her face. "Face it doctor, you've lost. We'll be taking back what's ours now."

Eggman merely chuckled to himself. "You think you've won, haven't you?" He said darkly. "You think you're high and mighty? Well, there's some things even YOU can't stop. Try getting out of THIS mess, rodents!" Eggman said, before hitting two separate buttons on the mech's control panel, ejecting him from the cockpit of the mech and through a hatch, out of the room before it resealed itself.

But that was the least of the two's worries, as soon the two tendril's eyes glowed a deep violet and another distorted voice spoke. Even with the heavy distortion, Sonic could make out the voice, and needless to say, it was more than enough to have caused panic.

 ** _Void._**

"Sash, run." Sonic said.

"What, why?" Sash said, trying to sound fearless, but it was clear enough she was also scared.

"Just run!" Sonic said, before the massive violet black hole opened up in front of the two, trying to suck them in. Sonic and Sash was running as hard as they could, the skid marks from their feet scraping on the floor as they tried to outrun the suction of the void behind them the distance between the duo and it growing smaller... three feet... two feet... one foot...

A loud bang soon sounded before the last of the mech soon crumpled over, the power source from it completely removed as the void shut down, releasing Sonic and Sash from their binding and launching them forward, causing the two to crash into the wall.

"Ow... oh god..." Sash moaned, struggling to move. Sonic merely groaned in pain before the two looked up at the wreckage of the machine to see... the roboticized Tails and Carol?! With the Kingdom Stone energy?!

* * *

 _ **To be concluded...**_

 _ **Chapter 14: SSSS**_


	15. Chapter 14: SSSS

**_..._**

 ** _Sonic and Sash: Tides of Chaos  
Act 3_**

 _Chapter 14: SSSS_

* * *

Both the hedgehog and draconian were frozen in shock. Here before them were the their roboticized pseudo-siblings, who they hadn't defeated more than an hour ago, and now they were now, right in front of them like nothing had even happened!

"C-Carol..." Sash spoke weakly. "H-how..."

"Fail-safe reboot program." The robotic wildcat answered, her voice cold and emotionless. "After your... escapades with Metal Neera and Metal Gong, the doctor took some... extra precautions in our creation. But that's all aside now." if she had a mouth, it would be smirking widely. "What matters now is what my comrade and I have come for..." She said, holding up the sphere capsule that contained the Kingdom Vortex. "And with this... I think the two of us should be able to assert our positions rather well..."

Sonic cringed, both from pain and what the metal Carol had said. "What... what do you mean..."

"It means WE'RE cleaning house." The robotic kitsune responded coldly. "We're taking over this operation ourselves, and we're starting by... let's just say, 'refurbishing' the surrounding areas a bit."

An angry growl escaped Sash's mouth, her clenched fists trembling as she tried to contain her pain. "You're... you're not getting away with this. We stopped you before, we can stop you again..."

A cold, mischievous giggle came from the robotic wildcat. "That's funny, really. What makes you think you're going to stop us..." She said, grabbing the one side of the orb.

"...when we can do THIS?" The mechanical kitsune finished, grabbing the other side of the orb, the two pulling away from eachother and splitting the orb into two smaller orbs. "You think this is going to be a fair fight?"

Sash gritted her teeth. "There's two of us and two of you! Even with the power of the Kingdom Vortex, its not going to stop us from keeping you two from destroying Avalice!"

The robotic wildcat coldly chuckled. "Oh really? Then what makes you two so special? Why do you think you're so capable of stopping us even when you two are on your last legs, just BARELY surviving to even just stand here in front of us?"

Both Sonic's and Sash's postures rightened a bit, both of them having a look of confidence on their faces. Sash was the first to speak.

"Nothing."

Carol froze at that statement. "Come again now?"

"Nothing." Sash repeated. "Neither Sonic or I need to be special..."

"That..." Tails started. "...has got to be the-"

"The what, huh?!" Sonic added. "You heard her! Neither of us need to be special..."

" _ **...so long as we have something special to fight for!**_ " Both Sonic and Sash yelled at the two roboticized friends in front of them. Carol's eye seemed to twitch at the statement as she stared at the two.

"...hmph, good one." Carol said. Soon Tails and Carol had the respective orbs of the Kingdom Stone energy glowing brightly, before a large flash occurred, blinding both of them. The sound of twisting and breaking metal and wires slotting into place filled the room, the blinding light preventing either of the two from seeing them. When the light died down, Sonic and Sash had removed their arms from shielding their eyes... only to have their hearts sink when they saw what was in front of them. Gone were the original roboticized bodies, and in their place were two towering mechs of the two. Metal Tails now sported a gigantic mechanized wing set with missiles loaded into the tops of them, and the tendrils of Eggman's mech were now part of his tails. A single unwavering red eye was on his face and his posture was to that of a more wild fox, crouching down and getting ready to strike. Carol's frame had more bulk to it, her robotic crimson-red eyes glaring death right at the two. Attached to the back of her enlargened frame was a massive sword, looking electrified at that too. Her gigantic hulking frame was hunched over from the room, but it was already clear enough the two were several times bigger than them.

Sash stood there, her fists clenched as she stared up at the titan robots, but inside her heart was a swirling mix of turmoil and fear. Sonic seemed paralyzed with his own emotions, what once were his friends now towering above him, looking down on the two for a kill...

"Say your prayers you two..." Carol finally spoke before brandishing her gigantic sword and slashed the upper wall above the two causing it to fall onto Sonic and Sash. The two didn't even have time to react before the ceiling and several chunks of metal collapsed on top of them. The robotic wildcat smirked before Tails blasted open the back wall, the two of them flying out and into the skies above Avalice...

Meanwhile, a groan came from the wreckage, a lavender hand reaching out and pulling herself and another out. It was Sash, even worse for wear. One of her horns was shattered and broken, the other being completely gone and leaving a cracked and broken base. Pained bruises marred her entire body and her outfit was shredded and bloodied. Sonic wasn't any better, with his spines frayed all over the place and batterings all across his body. Both were in massive amounts of pain as the crawled out of the wreckage and into the room.

"Oww..." Sash moaned. "Mmmm... S-Sonic? A...are you st-till the-ere?"

Sonic groaned in pain, trying to get to his knees. "S-still alive... we need to go... a-after them..."

"H-how..." Sash croaked out, trying to endure the pain. "I can't even feel parts of my body..."

"The Emeralds..." Sonic choked out. "H-hand me one..."

Sash weakly got one of the emerald out and handed it to Sonic; the blue Emerald, before taking out the lavender Emerald. "S-Sonic..?"

"S-Sash..." Sonic sputtered out. "Do you trust me?"

Sash hesitated for a moment, then nodded. Sonic must have known what he was doing if he was wanting the Emeralds out. "I-I trust you Sonic..."

Sonic nodded. "Alright... when I say it... clash your Emerald on mine. Okay?" Sash nodded in response. "Okay..." She answered weakly.

"Alright..." Sonic spoke. "Now."

As soon as Sonic said it, both the hedgehog and the draconian clashed the emeralds together, a burning energy ripping through both their bodies as the Chaos Energy amplified through their blood, the pain starting to fade... Sash's light lavender skin flashed to a hot pink, her darker lavender hair flashing a blazing scarlet as her eyes flashing the same gold color, only now more brighter and powerful than before, her pupils becoming thinner. What had still remained of her blue outfit hat now flashed to a burning red, a burning crimson flame wrapping around her neck and the lower part of her face before a long red scarf formed where the flame was, worn and slightly tattered. Sash, looked down at her own hands, a small gasp escaping her mouth from her new appearance.

"This power..." Sash breathed. "The blood of my ancestors... I can feel it flowing through me... the form of the Sacred Dragon..."

"Heh, impressed by what the Emeralds can do, huh?" A voice spoke from behind her. Sash's eyes darted backwards to see none other than Sonic, his fur now a shining gold and his eyes now a burning red. Sash nodded in response.

"I never thought... I'd be capable of reaching the form of the Sacred Dragon..."Sash breathed, before shaking her head. "Now is not the time for awe. Tails and Carol are rampaging out of control out there."

"And we need to stop them." Sonic said. "Are you ready?" Sash nodded.

"Then let's do it." Sonic said. "For the fates of our worlds..."

"And for the sake of my ancestors..."

"LET'S GO!" Both of them said before taking off through the hole where the gigantic two had fled...

* * *

The loud explosion of the side of the Death Egg Mk. III being blasted open startled the group back at Shang Tu. Milla had shuddered in fear, whimpering inside the Life Petal spa while Spade and Neige rushed to the balcony, only to see the large robotic Tails and Carol fleeting out of the hole in the side of the station.

"What the?!" Neige gasped. "Is that... Tails and Carol?!"

"So..." Spade growled. "The fat bastard got to them. He must have overhauled the roboticizing process in order to create something like that..."

Neige looked to Spade with worry. "Spade... if those things are left to rampage across Avalice..."

Spade gritted his teeth. "No one's gonna survive if those two attack the planet..."

"W-wait, what's that?!" Neige gasped, pointing at the two bursts of light that had flown out of the station as well. "What are those?!"

Spade looked at the scarlet light with disbelief. "No way... is that... is that Sash?!"

"Wh-what?!" Neige said. "But that color... did she...?!"

"There's no doubt..." Spade muttered. "Sash must have activated the Sacred Dragon transformation!"

"Wh-what?!" Neige choked out. "How... how is that even possible?! How?!"

Spade shook his head. "I don't know... but the fate of our world rests with them..."

* * *

The gigantic Metal Tails glanced behind him only to see the two streaks of gold and scarlet catching up with him and Carol. A metallic growl escaped his robotic throat before he motioned to Carol about the incoming 'insubordinates'. Carol merely nodded before the two turned to face the blurs oncoming, drawing her sword for the fight. "Well..." She purred. "They want to try and stop us? Hmph, I'd like to see them try..."

Both Sonic and Sash had stopped before coming close to the two kaizo robots. The hedgehog had glanced over to the dragoness before nodding. They knew there was a chance both of them might not make it out of this alive, but with their worlds on the line, their own survival was the least of their worries. Soon enough the fight begun as Carol slashed her sword in front of her, creating several stationary waves before using her hand and thrusting it forward, sending the waves simultaneously in a grid-like pattern straight at the two. Sash weaved her way through the grid as best as she could, though one grazed her arm with a dull sting, before she closed the gap between her and the massive Carol. The robotic wildcat slashed at the dragoness, but Sash had dodged out of the way of it before unleashing a True Dragon Boost straight into the Kingdom Energy core of the roboticized wildcat, straight in the center of the chest. Carol yowled in pain before knocking Sash back, a look of pure hatred on her face as she glared her down with a stare that could kill.

Tails, meanwhile, had his twin tails already aiming at Sonic, his eyes flashed cyan before firing off the twin lasers straight at the hedgehog. Sonic weaved past the twin lasers before making a boost straight for Tails' Kingdom Energy core in his chest, but Tails had raised up an energy shield, blocking the hedgehog's path. Sonic slammed into the shielding, his spines grinding against it in a Super Sonic Spin until cracks started appearing. The cracks grew larger while Tails held the shielding, but it soon proved fruitless as Sonic smashed through the shield, slamming straight into the gigantic core of the robot. The robot kitsune howled in pain as it swatted Sonic away, aiming its arm full of DNA Cannons straight at the hedgehog and opened fire. Sonic didn't get any time to recover from the knockback before being immediately assaulted backwards even more by the DNA Cannon blast, which while feeling like a dull thud, still hurt badly. Sonic gritted his teeth in pain before dashing back forwards at the robotic kitsune...

Carol flung another round of wave slashes straight at Sash, hoping to catch her off guard and end up slicing the dragoness into bite-sized kibbles. Sash, however, had an intense look of focus on her face as she weaved through the next wave of slashes, and was about to let off another True Dragon Boost straight at her core before Carol fired off several massive sawblades from her tail straight a Sash, almost throwing her off guard as one grazed by her cheek, slicing it open and the crimson liquid starting to seep down it. The dragoness wasn't deterred though, and soon she fired off another True Dragon Boost straight into the core of the titanic wildcat. Carol roared in pain before swatting Sash away from her, a look in her eyes that wanted the dragon dead...

After that last attack, Sash quickly boosted over to her golden hedgehog partner, a slightly concerned look on her face. "Sonic... I'm not able to get that core out of Carol's chest. I can only smash into it and hope it shakes loose... any luck from you?

Sonic shook his head in response. "No dice. It doesn't seem like we're getting enough force to knock them out... think you can muster some fight for a dual attack?"

Sash nodded in response. "I'm not sure how much longer I can hold this form though... think we can make it quick?"

Sonic nodded. "Alright, let's do this." He said, before the streaks of gold and crimson took off. Tails and Carol both soon growled started their attacks, Tails' eyes flashing red before unleashing a slew of flames from the gatling arm straight at the two. Sonic and Sash nimbly dodged out of the way... and straight into the setup by Carol, right as she slashed straight at the two with her massive sword. Sonic and Sash both were flung backwards, both with a nasty gash across their chests. Sash grunted a bit in pain before her and Sonic blasted back forward at the two. Tails' eyes flashed orange before a barrage of missiles fired out straight at the two. Sash immediately fired off a True Dragon Boost and crashed through several of the missiles before Sonic brought up a Chaos shield and blocked a couple more before reflecting the last one back into Tails. The robotic kitsune recoiled in pain before warping next to Carol, an enraged look in his cold robotic eyes.

"ENOUGH OF THIS!" Tails roared, his eyes flashing red again. "Your days of glory are OVER!"

"TONIGHT WE END THIS!" Carol yelled as a strange energy surrounded her sword, pointing it straight at the two.

" **NOW BURN! BURN TO ASHES!** " The two bellowed as Tails fired off the flames from his gatling arm from behind Carol while the robotic wildcat fired off the massive beam from her sword, straight at the two...

"Sash, NOW!" Sonic yelled. Sash nodded and soon the seven emeralds had spread out in a circle in front of the two. Sash immediately put herself between Sonic and the Emeralds before immediately unleashing a True Dragon Boost back at Sonic, one of her hands outstretched as if to grab something. Sonic immediately grabbed Sash's hand, the two spinning in place at an alarming rate before they launched forward at Tails' and Carol's attacks, the emeralds now revolving around them vertically as a swirl of colors.

" ** _Zuìhòu lóng bā sī tè!_** " Both Sonic and Sash yelled as the two broke through the combined attack by the two robots, soon slamming through both of them, the combined force ripping the Kingdom Energy cores right out of their chests. Losing their power, the two gigantic mechs shut down, falling back to the grounds of Avalice...

Sash breathed heavily as soon as the two got out of their attacks, a river of blood trailing out of Sash's nose down the front of her face, her breathing pained and irregular as she struggled to stay conscious. Sonic soon floated over to Sash to make sure she was okay.

"Hey..." Sonic said, a bit of concern in his voice. "You alright?"

Sash nodded weakly. "Y-yeah... I think..." She choked out, before her eyes widened in horror. They had completely forgotten about the Death Egg this entire time, and with how much structural damage it had taken...

...it was now on a crash course for Avalice, and if it collided...

...neither of the planets would survive the resulting explosion.

"Sonic!" Sash said, a clear showing of worry in her voice. "We need to get the Death Egg away from Avalice as soon as we possibly can. If that thing collides with Avalice..."

Sonic's eyes widened before he nodded. "Let's get moving!" He said, before the two took off towards the collapsing Death Egg, which was already starting to collapse while it exploded. Sonic's face only showed pure determination as he focused dashing as fast as he could with Sash towards the collapsing space station. "Sash, I'm gonna need your help on this one!" The dragoness nodded before the two got into position underneath the Death Egg. Sonic soon began charging up a green orb within his hands, while Sash did the same, using every last bit of her strength to form her orb. "NOW!"

" ** _Hùndùn kòngzhì!_** " Sonic and Sash yelled as loud as they could before launching off the green orb, now encircling the entire station. Massive energy spikes eploded around the orb before the resulting shockwave warped the station out of existence, out into space before it detonated, the explosion surely would have wiped out both Avalice and Mobius had they not activated the Chaos Control right on it and warped it away. But the over-expendure of energy from both of them had been all too much; Sonic and Sash lost consciousness, falling back to the ground of Avalice together, their powered forms starting to fade... they hit the ground just as the form was about to run out, striking in the bamboo forests near Jade creek. The resulting impact of the two left a massive crater, nearly unmissable to any observers... both Sonic and Sash were heavily injured, lucky to be alive because their form's invincibility hadn't run out until after the impact. Sash's gloves and boots were completely gone, what little remained of her gi and leotard were charred and flaking, Her left horn was completely gone, her right horn down to its base and charred and flaking as well. Her face was contorted into pain, half of her face being charred black like what had happened during the Brevon crisis, gashes and burns marring across her body and chest... Sonic was off no better, most of his blue fur being charred black, his gloves completely gone and his jacket completely, his shoes destroyed, several pained gashes marring his entire body...

Sash was the first to try and choke something out. "S-S... S-Sonic..." She weakly choked out, trying to reach for him...

Sonic regained consciousness, weakly trying to reach for Sash's hand. "Sa-ash..." He weakly sputtered.

As soon as their hands touched, everything went black.

* * *

Tails and Carol's gigantic metallic bodies crashed into the Shang Tu palace, the center cavities of both mechs having a large hole in them. From both mechs the heads detatched, hitting the ground of the palace with a dull thud. Neera and Gong had already rushed over to the site, weapons drawn in case there was more to come, but that soon wouldn't be necessary as the heads of the mechs opened up... and out flopped the battered, naked and bruised bodies of an unconscious Tails and Carol. Neera gasped before she and Gong grabbed the two and rushed them off for the Life Petal baths...

* * *

The kitsune groggily shook his head, moaning in pain that was soon disintegrating fast. He opened his eyes and soon found himself inside one of the Life Petal baths in the palace... with an unconscious Carol leaning on his shoulder. Tails held his breath, trying to hold back his tears as Carol slowly woke up...

"Nyaangghh..." Carol moaned, slowly opening her eyes, leaning forward a bit. "Oww... mmhh... that hurt..." She soon had her eyes look around a bit before she realized where she was. She quickly felt her face and realized it wasn't cold metal; it was her own fur and flesh. Tears soon started streaming down her cheeks as soon she pounced on Tails, sobbing into his shoulder. Tails was caught off guard at first, but soon he didn't care as he wrapped his arms around the wildcat's bare back, sobbing into her shoulder.

"O-oh my god... oh my god, Tails..." Carol choked out through her sobs. "You're alive... you're, you're alive..." She said, pulling away a bit but still holding onto him. "I thought you... you..." She started, before breaking down into even more tears, pulling the kitsune close to her and not wanting to let go.

Tails sobbed into Carol's shoulder. "Thank god you're alive..." Tails choked out, the tears streaming down Carol's face. "Wh-what even happened? Last I remember we were inside those robotic shells, staring down Sonic and Lilac and then..." Tails then gasped. "Oh god, Sonic! Lilac!"

Carol was shaking. "Oh no... No..." Carol breathed. "Th-they can't be..."

"TAILS! CAROL!" A voice cried. The two didn't get much time to react before the young basset splashed into the tub, hugging her two friends. "Oh my god! I thought you guys were gone for good!"

Carol had hugged Milla tightly, the tears having already stained her furry cheeks. "I'm sorry ruff stuff... I got too carried away with my confidence..."

"Please... it's okay..." Milla said. "I'm... I'm just so happy you guys are okay..." Then the thought came to her. "Wh-what about Sonic and Lilac? Are... are they alright?"

Carol's face fell, and she somberly shook her head. "I don't know... the last I remember was of Tails and I in those robotic shells..."

"...and then overcharging yourselves with the Kingdom Vortex cores that madman had made." Another voice had said. Tails, Carol, and Milla had looked over to see that Spade and Neige had now entered into the room. "Neige and I saw what had happened. You two had become giant mechs and had fought both Sash and Sonic."

"Wh-what?!" Tails choked.

Neige nodded. "If Sonic wasn't in that golden form and Sash having reached the form of the Sacred Dragon, you two would have gone a rampage and nearly destroyed Avalice."

Carol looked down at her own hands. Tails and I... did that?" She said, a clear showing of fear in her voice.

"You two were roboticized anyways, so you weren't in control about your actions." Spade said. "Sonic and Sash apparently crashed nearby Jade Creek, so Neera went out with a search party to find the two, along with those missing cores you two had. Hopefully they should turn up."

Tails had a look of worry on his face as he looked down. "Sonic..."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the main royal chamber, the Magister was busy discussing the concerns he had for the hedgehog's and draconian's safety with Mayor Zao and Dail, that was, until Neera had burst into the room.

"Your majesty..." She said, out of breath.

"We found them."

* * *

 _ **To be concluded...**_

 ** _Epilogue: Reunion and Restoration_**


	16. Epilogue: Reunion and Restoration

_**...**_

 _ **Sonic and Sash: Tides of Chaos  
Act 3**_

 _Epilogue: Reunion and Restoration_

Darkness. Pain swirling around her entire head as Sash moaned in pain, her chest thumping as her heart was starting to regain its normal pace. Sash shot up, her eyes shooting open as her vision started to return, blurry at first. She blinked a couple of times, restoring her vision to find herself... naked, in a Life Petal spa in the Life Petal bath chambers of the Shang Tu palace. Initially this confused her a bit, last she remembered was that she was almost dying in a massive crater wile reaching for Sonic... at that point she had gasped. What had happened to him? Was he okay? Her answer would come soon as a groan came from beside her, she looked over to see none other than the blue blur himself slowly regaining consciousness, sitting up while holding his head in pain before he blinked his eyes a bit before looking around, finally seeing Sash right next to him. There was a moment of silence between the two... then Sash smiled, and the two met in a hug.

"Sonic..." She spoke lightly. "We did it..."

Sonic nodded, smiling. "We did it together Sash..."

The two held the hug for a while, until they came to the realization neither of them were wearing anything. They both let go of eachother and blushed heavily, Sonic rubbing the back of his head while Sash covered up her ample bust with her arms. Eventually the awkwardness passed and Sash looked back to Sonic, a concerned look on her face.

"Sonic..." Sash spoke. "Wh-what happened? The last thing I remember was us warping that giant station away after we..."

"...we stopped Tails and Carol." Sonic finished. "But the cores... neither of us got those, did we?"

Sash shook her head. "I blacked out..."

"We're lucky we found you two still alive." A voice said, turning out to be none other than Neera, entering her room with her staff at he side. "You two were a wreck when we found you."

"Wh-what about the Kingdom Vortex cores?" Sash asked.

"Recovered without any problems." Neera replied. "Needless to say, the kingdoms are in your debt for what you've done. You've kept Avalice safe again, Sash Lilac."

Sash merely nodded.

"Take the time you need you two." Neera said, turning to leave. "Zao should have one of his troops coming with the outfits you two are wearing for tonight's ceremony."

"Ceremony?" Sonic asked.

"We need to commemorate your heroism, of course." Neera answered, before walking out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Sash, turned back to Sonic, her arms lowered now since the two were alone.

"Well..." Sash spoke. "I wasn't expecting that to be perfectly honest..."

"Neither was I." Sonic said, looking up at the ceiling. "To be honest... I don't really care about that ceremony right now. What about Carol and Tails?"

"And Milla..." Sash spoke, looking worried. She flinched a bit as she felt the flesh of her tendrils regrowing because of the healing waters. "Neera and Gong got out of there safely, but I'm still worried..."

Sonic nodded. "We can check on it once we're done healing..."

* * *

"...right, so, Sonic, do I look okay?" Sash said as she stood in front of him, wearing the gold-trimmed red Chinese dress she had been provided, the crystals in her chargers now red to match with her dress, her hair having been done neatly with her tendrils curled fancily to look elegant and a small red flower in her hair. In her right hand she held a small red Chinese fan and was wearing sparkling red formal shoes. "I mean, this is what they provided, so..."

"I personally think you look fine Sash." Sonic, said, a smile on his face, now wearing a new red vest with a pair of dress shoes, his spines being combed back to look decent. "And hey, you know I wouldn't lie about your beauty."

Sash blushed a bit. "Thanks..." She answered as she walked over to Sonic, a light smile on her face. "So... shall we?"

Sonic nodded, taking her hand. "Let's." The two walked out of the spas and into the main palace room with the overlooking balcony, where the two massive robotic shells of Metal Tails and Metal Carol were still laying, the guards having issues trying to even move the gigantic shells out of the area. It was a funny sight honestly, but that wasn't what Sash and Sonic focused on. Standing nearby the shells were a familiar green wildcat, now wearing a strapped yellow knee-length dress and yellow shoes with a short red bandana around her neck and yellow formal shoes, a basset hound with orange hair wearing a green mid-thigh dress with a white jacket and formal green boots, and an orange kitsune wearing a closed green vest and formal shoes, his bangs combed back a bit. They froze up when they heard the footsteps walking in and the instant they saw the two, well...

"Lilac!"

"Sonic!"

Soon the five had met in a massive group hug, all thankful that eachother had survived what had happened. "Ohmigod, Lilac..." Carol cried, hugging her draconian friend tightly. "I'm so happy you're still alive..."

Sash cried a bit. "Same here Carol..." She spoke. "Same here..."

"Sonic..." Tails said. "I was so afraid that you had... had..." He hugged Sonic tighter, trying to hold back his tears.

Sonic smiled a bit. "Aw, come on buddy, you really think anything's gonna send me or Sash six feet under?" He said, ruffling his hair a bit.

"Lilac!" Miila said, hugging Sash, lightly whining. "Thank god you're alive..."

Sash held the basset tightly. "It's okay Milla... I'm here now..." She spoke softly, before looking over to Carol. "Hey, Carol, can you do something for me?"

Carol's ears perked up. "Hm? What's up Lilac?"

Sash shook her head. "Please, you don't need to call me by that anymore." She said, letting go of Milla. "Lilac was my family name... and an unrealistic ideal of what I wanted to be. You can call me by my actual name."

Carol looked confused. "Wait, why?"

Sash lightly smiled. "I've come to accept myself of who I am now. I don't need to hide my name behind an unrealistic goal of trying to be a 'hero'." She spoke.

Carol was silent for a second, then nodded. "Okay," She said, smiling. "...Sash."

Sash smiled a bit, then had asked, "So, where's Spade and Neige? They made it out, didn't they?"

Tails nodded. "Spade got called out for a bit and Neige went with him. He said they'd be back before the ceremony."

Sash nodded. "Alright then. So... everyone ready for it?"

Sonic nodded, taking Sash's hand. "I'm ready." He said, giving Sash a light kiss on her cheek. Sash blushed again, a light smile on her face as she turned towards the balcony.

"Alright," She said. "Let's go."

* * *

The mass of crowds outside of the Shang Tu palace were massive, Avalicians trying to squeeze in to see the palace balcony. People even lined the still metallic buildings and several floating airships from combined fleets of the three kingdoms. The crowds had soon quieted down as the Magister had stepped out onto the balcony, along with King Dail and Mayor Zao, followed by General Gong and Neera-Li, along with what looked like a half-dragon half-mongrel and a half-roboticized tengu, and finally Sonic, Sash, and the others. The three leaders each went up to their respective podiums, Zao needing a stepladder to be at the same height to speak into the microphone as the other two leaders. The Magister was the first to speak.

"Citizens of Shang Tu, Shang Mu, Suigang, and all Avalicians alike," The Magister spoke, his arms resting on the podium. "We are gathered here today to honor those who have been called upon to save our world once again. Over a year ago, our planet was wrought upon by an alien warlord bent on stealing our energy from the Kingdom Stone, now the Kingdom Vortex. It was thanks to the efforts of honor and courage shown by three young ones that had proven of our world having a future. Now, merely a week ago, we were brought under a threat again by a mad doctor from another world, threatening to terraform and roboticize all our worlds, and those individuals rose to the call again to help protect our world." The Magister rightened himself a bit before continuing. "Now then, if I may, I would like to hand off the speaking privilege to the two that had saved our world; you two, you may now step up to the podium." The Magister then backed off and let both Sonic and Sash walk up to the podium itself. Sash was the first to speak.

"...yes, hello everyone." Sash spoke into the microphone. "Of course, we all know why we are here today... I mean, it was something similar for over a year ago... but that isn't what I want to discuss to you about... I wish to discuss something I've learned over the past year, something that... I personally think is true, and I'd like to address it now." Sash cleared her throat before she continued. "People always view me as 'special' or 'different' because of what I am; a dragon, one of the major species that had shaped Avalice's history and granted us the power of the now Kingdom Vortex. But... to me, that's all it just is, a status; a species. To me, I don't need to be made a big deal of or be put into a special position because of my species. What I learned is that, it's not about what makes me special... it's about what I'm fighting for is special: my home, my friends... my family... and it's something we all share as Avalicians. We all have something special that we hold dear to our hearts that we don't ever want to lose; a close friend, a family member, a sibling, a loved one... they're all something none of us ever want to lose or let go. To me... that's what I feel is important. It's not a matter of being special, its a matter of having that something special to fight for." She said, bowing slightly. "I hope you all can understand as to what I mean from this... thank you." She said, before standing back up. Silence adorned the crowds before one person started clapping... and then another... and another... and soon the entire crowd was roaring in cheers and applause. Sash smiled as her cheeks blushed, a small tear running down her cheek as she stepped back, her heart filled with happiness. Sonic took a step up to the podium, and the crowd got quiet...

Sonic merely nodded. "Hello everyone..." He said calmly. "Of course, I can't really top what Sash had said... but I at least have something to add. If you're wanting to be the best you can be, it's about accepting who you really are, not about trying to overexaggerate yourself and trying to be something because you hate what you normally see inside you. Accepting yourself and any of your past failures is okay as long as you're willing to move on from those experiences for the better. That's something I truly think is important; its looking at yourself and accepting who you really are... that's something I think we can all look at." He finished, before giving a small bow. "Thank you." He said, backing away from the podium. The crowd cheered in acceptance of Sonic's words before the Magister came back to the podium, raising a hand to silence the crowd.

"Thank you, you two." The Magister said, before turning his attention back to the crowd before him. "Now, it is my honor to bestow upon these seven a gift; one that will last them for a lifetime." He said, before holding up a pendant in one of his hands, a small, glistening orb at the bottom of it. "This medal replica of the original Kingdom Stone is bestowed upon those who show their acts of courage, bravery, and honor. This gift is meant to show that of the very dragons that created the Stone itself, living on within the hearts of these seven warriors until the end of time." When the Magister had finished that sentence, Neera had stepped forward, presenting the pendants to the main seven and putting them around each of their necks, finally finishing with Sash and Sonic. With that completed, Neera gave a slight bow to the two before stepping back to her original position. Gong then had stepped forward, holding both of the cores before handing one off one to Sonic and the other to Sash. He then lightly nodded to the two before returning back to his position. "Now..." The Magister spoke. "Sonic, Sash, please step forward together with the retrieved cores." Both the hedgehog and the dragoness stepped forward, holding the cores. "Now, release the Kingdom Vortex back into the skies of Avalice. Restore our planet to its former glory!" Sonic and Sash both nodded and backed up, then, with smirks on both their faces, ran forward and jumped, kicking the cores away from the balcony before landing on it. The cores curved outwards before spinning back in the air and crashing into eachother, shattering the casings and releasing the energy into the skies of Avalice. The blue crystal-like energy swirled and pulsated before it exploded outward, resulting in the crystaline blue swirl above the three kingdoms. The crowd cheered in a roaring applause as the Vortex now swirled in the sky, Avalice now restored to its full glory.

The Magister cleared his throat before speaking. "Citizens of Avalice... this brings our ceremony... to a close." He said. "Thank you for your attendence today... and for the crowning of Avalice's heroes..."

* * *

Things grew quiet around the three kingdoms once the ceremony was over... for Shang Tu and Shuigang, at least. Shang Mu, however, was still brightly lit in celebration of the heroes and the upcoming Dragon festival. Needless to say, things were over the top to begin with; neon lights flashing all over the place, food and souveniers being served at every corner, live music, and just all around excitement. For a certain group of five, it was no different. The five of Sash, Sonic, Tails, Carol and Milla were at an outdoor table, several plates of sushi, chilidogs, fries and fruit spread about it like a feast. Needless to say, it was a pleasant feast for the five.

"MmmmMMMMMH!" Milla squealed, the fur around her mouth stained pink from eating a watermelon wedge with some of the juices running down her chin. "This is so GOOD!"

"Yeah," Sonic said, taking a bite out of one of his chilidogs. "Rather nice of Zao to provide all this for us. I mean, I know we saved the world, but still..."

"Eh, with how much he has from sales in his own mall, he can afford to blow some money on us." Carol said, taking another bite of her sushi. " 'sides, wouldn't be the first time he put a lot of money into feeding us."

Tails chuckled a bit and rolled his eyes. "Right... so, what are we gonna do about Avalice? I mean, it's next to impossible to even move it back to... whatever solar system it originally came from."

Sash nodded. "Good point... though, I personally wouldn't mind if Avalice stayed within range of your world."

"I got no complaints either." Carol said. "After all, I wouldn't mind staying with a certain cutie for a while..." She said, brushing her tail up against Tails' arm, elicting a blush on the kitsune's face. Sash giggled at Carol's advance on Tails, and Sonic couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.

"Uhhh..." Tails stuttered, failing to have the words come out of his mouth.

"Oh come on now!" Carol said. "Tell me at least you LIKED that feel you coped of me back in Shuigang!"

"Say what now?!" Sash asked, before looking at the kitsune.

"I-it was an accident, I swear!" Tails stuttered. "We fell out of a vent and I landed on top of her!"

"Oh come on Tailsy!" Carol said, punching him lightly in the arm. "I'm just messin' with ya!"

Sash giggled, finishing off one of her pieces of sushi before looking over to Sonic. "Hey, you wanna try some sushi Sonic?"

Sonic smirked. "Sure... if you wanna try one of these chilidogs." He answered. Sash nodded, and she grabbed a chilidog while Sonic grabbed a piece of sushi. Sash was the first to take a bite of the chilidog. Her eyes widened before she smiled.

"MMMMmmmh!" She exclaimed. "This is pretty good! I like this!" Sonic smirked before taking a bite of the sushi.

"MMmmh! Not bad!" Sonic said. "This is pretty good actually!"

"Heh, you two seem like a perfect match for eachother!" Carol commented. Milla giggled with watermelon in her mouth and Tails couldn't help but chuckle a bit. Both Sonic and Sash had a huge blush on their faces, clearly embarrassed from the situation. Though, the tension broke when a familar figure had came up to the table that Sash had recognized...

"Oh, Spade!" Sash said. "I was wondering where you had went off to. I thought you and Neige had gone back to the Scarves Hideout."

"Well, we did..." Spade started. "Until I got an order from the Head Scarf. She wishes to speak with you and Carol."

Carol groaned. "Look, if this is about trying to get us back into the Scarves, tell her we-"

"It's about your sister." Spade said bluntly. Both Sash and Carol froze at the statement of what Spade had just spoken of. "She told me... it's time you learned the truth."

Sash slowly nodded, getting up. Carol did the same, before looking over to Tails. "We'll be back in a bit." She said, before she and Sash headed off with Spade.

"Hey..." Milla said worriedly, the juices from the melon still running down her chin. "Are you guys sure they're gonna be okay?"

Sonic shrugged. "If I know anything about Sash, she's tough, so she should be fine..."

"I hope..." Milla whimpered.

* * *

"...I'll still never get used to how unnerving this place is..." Carol muttered, her and Sash following behind Spade down one of the corridors of the hideout. Several other scarves were discussing among themselves about what other contracts they were getting, status on several of the groups in separate locations of the kingdom, update on certain missions and heists, and so on. The three remained in silence as they continued... until a familiar voice spoke.

"Well well, is that a familiar dragon girl I see in here?" A female voice from behind Sash and Carol. Sash sighed a bit, a small smirk appearing on her face.

"You haven't changed a bit, have you Hanna?" Sash commented, the fiery vixen standing behind her as she turned around to face the fox. "Still fighting?"

"And still winning." The vixen answered. "You've certainly changed in the past few years since you left the Scarves. Stopping an alien warlord and now what had just went down... you're certainly gained a reputation around here, that's for sure. You and the Tea right next to you."

"Yeah," Carol said. "By the way, how's Rob doin'? He still holdin' up?"

"Ah, Rob's doing fine." Hanna remarked. "Still having to moderate things around the scarves ever since the Head Scarf wanted to make sure we didn't have a repeat incident of last years fighting tournament."

"Clawed out someone's eyes again?" Carol said.

"More like one of my roundhouse kicks cracked the guy's skull." Hanna said. "Gotta admit, still impressed I was able to do that myself." She spoke, her tail slowly swishing behind her. "Enough about me though, I'm more surprised to see you two back here now. What's the deal with that? Finally had a change of heart and wanted to join back?"

"Well, not exactly..." Sash said. "Spade said the Head Scarf wanted to speak to us. So, he's taking us to her right now."

"Ah, ol' Head Scarf gonna tell you somethin' huh?" Hanna remarked. "Well, you two go ahead then. I personally am going back to do some training. Be seeing you two around." She said, before walking off.

"Yeah, sure..." Carol muttered. "Miss walking internet browser..."

"I heard that Tea!"

* * *

Soon enough, the three had reached the main doors to the chambers of the Head Scarf, two ornate lanterns on the sides of the doors, the doors themselves looking very ornate and somewhat menacing. Spade sighed before lightly knocking on the large doors.

"Head Scarf?" Spade asked. "I have the two like you wanted."

"...yes, thank you Spade." A female voice said from behind the door, stern and affirmative. "You are dismissed." Spade nodded before leaving the two at the door. There was a lapse of silence before the female voice spoke again. "You can come in you two."

Sash jumped a bit, then hesitantly nodded. Carol's tail twitched a bit in anticipation and a bit of fear as Sash opened the door and the two walked inside, the large door closing behind them. Traditional chinese lanterns on poles were in the corners of the room, four ornate columns holding the ceiling up. On the far wall was a rack holding a long pole-like weapon; a naginata, with another one rack above it meant to hold a large sword, but was empty instead. A small rock fountain rested in the right side of the room, trailing down water to run across a small river rut in the middle of the room, underneath a platform in the center of the room. Two separate mats laid on the platform near Sash and Carol, and a third at the opposite end of the platform. A figure was sitting on it's knees on the other mat, her back turned to the door, almost as if she was meditating. The long black coat she wore hid most of her figure, but underneath was a pair of black combat boots, form fitting black pants and a black tanktop. A long, worn red scarf was around her neck, trailing down her back. The major noticable feature was the large golden helmet the figure wore, several parts molded into horns and a hole at the back, a long, dark lavender tendril coming out of the back of the helmet, with a bit of dark lavender hair wrapped around the base of it. The front of the helmet had a single round opening, tinted black so it was impossible to see into it. There was a small moment of tension before the figure spoke.

"You two can take a seat you know..." The female figure said, stern but soft, snapping Sash and Carol out of their frozen state. Sash nodded before she and Carol stepped forward and sat on their knees on the mat on the platform. A small chill wafted through the room as slowly the Head Scarf got up, turning to face the two and looking down on them.

"You two have quite come of age since you've left the Scarves, haven't you?" The Head Scarf spoke calmly to the two. "Despite the fact of your abandoning of the Scarves... I'm quite proud of you two for what you've done. You've managed to keep the kingdoms safe through your own efforts and wits. Coral would be proud of you two..."

Carol seemed to cringe a bit at the mention, trying to hold back her tears, before she spoke up. "Please, Head Scarf-" She started, before the Head Scarf raised a hand.

"At ease, young Tea." She spoke firmly. "You're not needing to call me that since you two are not technically in the Scarves anymore. You can call me by the true name you know me by."

Sash nodded. "Yes... Natalya" She spoke calmly. Head Scarf Natalya was smirking beneath her helmet with what Sash had said, but that smirk had went away when the more pressing issue came up.

"Right then... you both probably know why you two are here." Natalya said. looking down at the two. "I feel... it's time you two know the truth." She said turning away and walking back to the mat on the other side of the platform, before sitting down on her knees, facing the two. "...it's time you learned the truth about what happened to your sister Carol..."

Carol nodded. "I'm ready..." She spoke, a small tear in her eye. "Just... I want to know the truth of what happened..."

Natalya had nodded. "You both will know what happened. But I must stress this; do not, I repeat, do _not_ tell anyone outside these doors. If this had ever gotten out, it would cause an outrage between all the origin kingdoms of Avalice. Do I make myself clear?"

Both Sash and Carol nodded. "Understood Natalya." The two said.

Natalya nodded back. "Good. Now... give me a moment to remove this helmet..." She said, unhooking something from the back of the helmet. "I wish to speak to you about this... face to face. So you know I have nothing to hide..." She said, grabbing the sides of the helmet and lifting it off of her head, setting it down in front of her. Both Carol and Sash were quite shocked when they saw Natalya's true face...

"Natalya..." Sash breathed. "You're... you're a... a dragon?!"

Indeed the face that was under the helmet was not what either of the two expected; a familiar muzzle lighter in color to the normal color with darker scales coming up to the tip of where the nose was. A familiar scarlet set of eyes, the curved horns, the tied-back dark lavender hair... it was all too familiar.

"Indeed Sash." Natalya spoke, moving her helmet aside. "I was waiting for an appropriate time to reveal it to you and Carol, and I figured the time was now. But enough about that... about what happened to your sister Carol..." She took a deep sigh before continuing on.

"It began about two years ago, when you two were still in the Scarves. The Magister had been concerned with tensions increasing with the outside Kingdoms and their jealousy towards the Origin Kingdoms using the Kingdom Stone for themselves and not sharing the energy with them. He had devised a project of a creation to originally give the outer Kingdoms... a replica Kingdom Stone to help power their kingdoms. The project had taken over several months to work on, and while the Scarves had made sure it was kept under wraps. No one, _no one_ was allowed to know about the project outside of those involved, myself included. Needless to say, the project was... completed... but it was there when the Magister had learned a _deadly_ effect of the replica, being that it could be used as a weapon that could wipe any of the Origin Kingdoms off of the face of Avalice." Both Sash and Carol tensed up. A Kingdom Stone replica that could be used as a weapon of mass destruction... no wonder the Magister didn't want it getting out. Something like that could cause a riot...

"Without hesitation, the project was cancelled and the files classified. The information was made sure it was _never_ to be released to ensure that the trust between the Origin Kingdoms would remain stable. However, things... didn't quite go as planned. One of the scientists wasn't too pleased with the fact the project had been canned and made off with duplicates of the original documents and had planned to sell them off to the highest bidder, as well as create one for himself and threaten the three kingdoms with their destruction. Needless to say, the Magister was distressed about the entire situation, so there was only one answer he had left. He came to me. I had lent him the two top Scarves of our group, which at the time were Spade and Coral, with Coral being the highest rank, to be the perfect candidates for the mission. Their objectives were to locate and either retrieve or destroy the documents, as well as capture the rogue scientist, dead or alive. The mission was successfull... but as you know, Coral had never returned..."

Carol felt tense as Natalya continued to speak. "Coral had ended up fighting the mad doctor on a station above Avalice... and ended up destroying the Stone replica, and causing the entire station to come crashing down..." Carol's breathing became sharp, her eyes starting to fill with tears, as well as Sash's. "Carol... I'm sorry... but she didn't survive..."

That broke Carol, and she burst into tears, covering her face in her hands, sobs wracking her entire body. Sash soon went over to her side and hugged her friend, trying to calm her down while Natalya sighed. "Needless to say, Spade had came back, the mission was classified... and then you girls left the group. The Scarves held a private ceremony for putting Coral to rest... and then we had moved on. Carol... I'm sorry you had to hear about this with what happened to your sister..." Carol didn't look up from her hands, still crying her poor heart out while Sash tried to comfort her. Soon enough Carol's tears died down, looking back at Natalya with the same tear-stained cheeks, with Sash also looking back to Natalya.

"...at least we have some vindiction of what actually happened..." Sash spoke, a few tears running down her cheeks. "Coral... may your soul rest in peace..." She said, starting to get up.

"Hold on you two." Natalya spoke, getting up. "I'm not done with you two yet. There's something I wish to give you two." She then walked to the back of the room, opening a compartment with a long box inside it, bringing it back to the center of the room. "Your sister wished to reserve these until you were Crimson S++... and with your actions of what you did to save Avalice... I think this is the best time to give these out now." She then opened the box, showing inside two long worn crimson scarfs. She removed the scarves from the box and handed the scarves to Sash and Carol. "Wear these with honor you two..."

Sash nodded, wrapping the scarf around her neck, feeling the fabric brush up against her skin, causing her to shiver a bit. Carol removed her original bandanna, letting it fall to the floor before she wrapped the new scarf around her neck, her once sad eyes now filled with confidence. Both she and Sash nodded, their once tense muscles now relaxed as they stood up. Natalya nodded.

"I would offer you two if you would want to come back to the Scarves... but I know for a fact you would deny it. The decision to come back or not is up to you two..." Natalya spoke. Both Sash and Carol nodded, before Natalya walked past the two and opened the door. "You are dismissed now." Sash and Carol nodded before the two walked out of the room. Natalya closed the door behind her, sighing. "I only hope your sister can do your bloodline justice Coral... and that Sash is still able to continue the dragon legacy..."

* * *

Soon enough Sash and Carol had returned to the others. Sonic had seemed relieved that the two were okay.

"So, everything go okay?" Sonic asked.

Sash nodded. "Everything's fine..." She said, smiling a bit.

"That's a nice scarf you're wearing. Where'd you get that from?"

"Well... from someone I haven't talked to in a long time..."

The five had continued their buffet for a while longer before they had decided to head back for the treehouse. Sonic and Sash had hopped into the back of Tails' buggy, while Milla got on the back of Carol's motorcycle when they had started the drive back. Sash couldn't help but smile as she leaned on Sonic a bit as they made their way home...

* * *

In a small hovercraft flying back to Mobius, a certain mad doctor was grumbling on his failed conquering of Avalice, with none other than Metal Sonic. Without looking even twice, it was easy to tell he was frustrated.

"I can't believe this..." Eggman growled to himself. "Everything was going so well... I would have had that entire planet under my grasp if it wasn't for that damn lizard..."

"Ehm, dragon, sir." Orbot said. "That girl wasn't a lizard, she wa-"

"I know what I said!" Eggman growled, slamming his fists on the console of his ship. "The point is if she hadn't interfered with that hedgehog, I would be ruling right now! _Ruling!_ "

"Hmph, your own fault for not taking the dragon into account." Metal Sonic commented. "Should have just taken every little part into consideration..."

"Oh shut up Metal!" Eggman growled. "I swear, you become more and more like that hedgehog every time..."

* * *

However, high above the skies of Avalice, a massive airship hid in the clouds, sleek in design, had been monitoring over the entire events that had happened on Avalice. A figure sat in her lavish pilot chair, shrouded in the darkness of the interior cabin, looking over the video feeds she had captured of the entire events that had occurred. It was nearly impossible to hell her species from the dimness of the cabin, but it was clear enough to see she was a wildcat, into her earlier twenties. She smirked as she watched the video feeds, snickering a bit.

"Well... this is amusing... so they managed to stop that big egg-shaped oaf with whatever he was doing..." The figure spoke to herself, rubbing her chin in a mix of amusement and malicious thought. "Hmph." She said, before hitting a button on the side of her pilot's chair. "Greasemonkey, status report. How goes the tracking on part one of our massive weapon?"

"N-n-no dice there boss!" A jittery voice came from the transmission being routed, the voice sounding like the one on the other end was crazy. "There's no sign of the d-d-damn thing anywhere from what I'm looking!"

"Just keep looking greasemonkey." The feline spoke. "The sooner we can find that first piece, the sooner the plan can be pulled out. Keep looking."

"Y-y-you got it boss!" The voice on the transmission said before the transmission cut out. The feline figure smirked to herself as she continued watching the video feeds. Hopefully enough her two other agents would have their objectives completed and then everything would be set up for the monitoring the leaders of Shang Mu and Shang Tu, and once her greasemonkey located the first part of her plan... everything would fall into place. She snickered to herself as she hit a button on her seat, bringing up a glass care with a mechanical-looking robotic sword next to her chair. She looked over to the sword, her whiskers twitching.

"Don't worry my sister..." The feline said. "Your lack of recognition and our family being overshadowed will soon be vindicted. The dragons will fall..." She said before standing up and outstretching her arms.

" _...and the Tea bloodline will return as the shapers of Avalice's history once again!_ "

* * *

 ** _The... End?_**

* * *

 **Ho boy, this was a hell of a story to write, but I have to say, I am damn proud of how this turned out. I feel like I branched this off into it's own continuity rather well. However, as you see, it seems like there's someone else that had viewed the entirity of the story. Who is this mysterious figure and what relation does she have to the Tea bloodline? Questions will be answered eventually... but for now, rest easy heroes...**

 **Hanna Skarlett and Rob Stiil are owned by RaceProUK.  
**

 **Head Scarf Natalya Belongs to Mixedfan8643.**

 **Neige Taicho belongs to R-No.71.**

 **All other characters belong to their respective copyright owners and so on and so forth.**

 **But, with that, Sonic and Lilac (or Sonic and Sash if you want to get technical now): Tides of Chaos now comes to a close. I'm SonicChaosEmerald, signing out.**


End file.
